A New Beginning
by IGOTPWNED183
Summary: "This was it. His rifle had no more ammo, no more weapons to be found around him, and Bill had no more strength to even lift his head. Bill prepared himself as he knew what would come next." An alternative continuation of L4D begins! First shot at writing fiction, rated M for violence, blood, adult themes, the whole shebang! Please enjoy :D!
1. The Sacrifice

**Pairings: **I may pair characters later in the story, but not for the first chapter (sorry guys!)

**Warnings: **This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Greetings! This is the **VERY** first fan fiction I have ever written in my life! Feel free to comment and review my story (any try to be nice, please? c:) If enough people like this, I will post more in the future!

Hints: Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

I hope you guys enjoy a long journey with me into this story, and of course, ENJOY!

Chapter 1

The Sacrifice

Sweat dripped down his forehead, exhaustion evident in his ragged breaths. The former soldier looked as a tidal wave of infected rushed towards him. Each having the same ravenous look as they rushed towards to what they hoped to be a feast. And yet none of that mattered to him.

Bill Overbeck glanced a look at the close, yet strangely distant bridge where his comrades were on. _Just like birds, when you can only see them as specks in the sk-_

ROARRRRRRRRRR!

A loud roar snapped Bill back from his thoughts as he remembered what he was here to do. His final mission, or rather, his final act as the leader of his small ragtag group of family.

He was running low on ammo. Bill knew it, and so it also seemed that the infected knew it too as they continued to pour from every opening on the streets towards the old man. Bill clenched his teeth as he concentrated on clearing down a path with his trusted assault rifle, the same one he had used in the unforgiving jungles of Vietnam.

It was a suicide mission. To run into the largest horde they had ever seen since their journey was certain to yield nothing but death.

Bill grunted in pain as he endured numerous cuts and scratches coming from the sharp nails of the infected. A Tank had fallen from a shower of bullets, but there were still two more left, screaming for fresh blood.

_Dam it. Why did it have to go down like this?_

Their plan was perfect. They found a boat filled with supplies. All they had to do was make the bridge go up, so they could escape the hell they were in. And yet, as if making a mockery out of them, the rusty and old generator blew out on them. With the bridge stuck half way from being fully raised, the colossal sound coming from it lured every single infected in a fifty mile radius. Worse was it when three tanks stormed into the fray, each roaring for blood as they charged towards the group of survivors.

Knowing that they only had moments. The veteran jumped off the bridge, much to the alarm and shock of his comrades. The young former-college girl tried to chase after the old man, but was held back by the strong arms of the heavily tattooed biker.

_"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" _The girl had yelled at the biker trying to shake out of his iron clutch, tears springing from her eyes and yet the biker only looked grimly at her, his hands still gripping her arms tightly as she bit back her sobs.

_"The only thing we can do for him is watch his back." _

This was the biker's reply as he let go of her arms and walked towards the edge of the bridge in a prepared stance with his shotgun ready, almost as if this was the final showdown between them and the horrors that had ruined their lives. The horrors that used to be fellow humans, used to breathe the same air, used to have warm blood flowing in their body, used to be everything they were.

_Infected. _This was the word that had lived and stuck in the minds and dreams of the four survivors every since all hell had broke loose as the disease spread across the country. Each losing a piece of themselves as they watched their world crash down around them.

Zoey losing both of her parents in front of her, one of which she had no choice but to end their life. Or so she had thought before the horrifying truth presented itself to her in the prison room of the military base as the doctor told her the Carrier gene ran in the father's side.

Francis losing the life he had of plundering for his survival. The biker had said that this was the best thing that had happened to him. And yet he too had lost both his buddies and girlfriend to the infection. Perhaps his unending jumble of jokes and fierce joy in violence was only a cover-up for the feelings the biker had buried deep within himself.

Louis losing everything he had known in life. Having wanting to lose it all, he never realized just how painful his wish was when it was granted. Washing away his home, his possessions, his I.T job, everything was erased in an instant as the dead began to rise up and proceed to erase all living life in their reach.

Bill, in any sense, probably had nothing to lose as he had nothing left but his memories. His life consisted of drinking beer, wasting away on his couch as he did odd jobs left and right for no particular reason. And yet he had risen up, determined to live out the infection, refusing to die when he had already outlived two tours in Vietnam. Abandoning everything but his old army clothes, old assault rifle, and his last packs of cigarettes as he turned and faced his last war. The war to survive this hell-hole.

Each and every one of the four survivors had lost everything. And yet in each other they found one simple thing.

Family.

Having survived so many trials and hardships, the group overcame their differences and entrusted each other with their lives, knowing that they had each other's backs no matter what.

This was the trust that Bill put everything in as he rushed towards the old generator, knowing full well that his group would do everything in their power to cover his back, allowing him to focus only on the one thing that mattered to him above everything else. Above his every own life.

Getting them to safety.

Blood splattered all over the streets as Bill tried his best to reach the button. His group doing everything they could do from their vantage point. Zoey accurately blowing heads off with her signature dual-pistols as she shouted encouragement to the others. Francis furiously shooting any infected his shotgun could manage from its limited reach. Louis frowning in concentration as he tried to focus on clearing Bill's path while ignoring the injury he had sustained on his leg when he had tried to go down into a building filled with witches.

_Almost there!_ The machine reaching Bill's sight as he ran towards it. _Just press the button and get back to the bridge!_

It was a gruesome, yet spectacular sight, with a lone man running towards a rusty old generator. To his right, a horde of unimaginable numbers of infected, snarling and screaming as they ran towards him, each hoping to feast on his live flesh. To his left, cage and wiring blocked any chance of running towards that side. From behind, a blazing fury of lights and unending rain of bullets launching towards the huge mass of infected.

_I can make it back, I can make it back to her. I just need to press this butto-_

A massive fist appeared out of nowhere. Hitting Bill in his ribs with all the force of a speeding car, knocking him feet into the air and landing painfully on the cold, trembling concrete floor. Blood poured from his mouth as he coughed on the ground. His body refusing to move as he tried to get up.

_MOVE DAM IT! MOVE!_

With every ounce of his strength in his old and frail body, Bill slowly crawled towards the generator as the two remaining Tanks rushed at him, screaming in fury as they were delayed by the hail of bullets on their arms and face as the others tried to distract them away from Bill.

"BILL! NO BILLL!" screamed Zoey as she wildly fired at the Tanks closing around Bill, her tears flowing down her cheeks without restraint.

_Don't die on me, old man! Not when we're so close to being safe!_

The button was still in reach. Just a feet away from Bill.

_I can still make it_, thought Bill as he continued to crawl his way towards the button, his muscles screaming in agony as he forced them to move.

_I HAVE to make it. _

The Tank closest to him roared as it rubbed the wounds from Zoey's pistols. No matter how many times Bill saw a Tank, it was the same. A monstrosity made up of too much muscle and skin too tough for bullets to pierce. A living tank, if one were to ever describe it.

_Shit, _thought Bill, _I have to distract them to get to the button...what can I...AHA!_ Noticing the dusty Molotov next to him, he threw the bottle with as much strength as he could muster. With the contents spewed all over the creatures face, Bill ignited it. The monster screamed in agony and rage as it tried to paw down the flames, which made it worse as it spread quickly to its arms and torso.

"Die...you son..of..a bitch..." coughed Bill, as the Tank roared one last agonized time, and fell down. Flames continuing to burn and consume the dead body.

There was a strange ringing in Bill's ears, perhaps it was an omen that he was about to die, or perhaps it was due to too much blood loss. At any rate, Bill looked up to the button and used his remaining strength to barely push the button. Glancing back to the bridge, it was going up again. Yet his comrades weren't cheering, rather they continued to shoot at the last and final tank just feet away from Bill.

_I guess this is as far as I go..._ thought Bill, as he crawled into the generator's room, a trail of blood following him.

_One last smoke before I go down_, chuckled Bill as he remembered the time when Zoey told him that smoking would kill him. "Dying of smoking is the least of my concerns, as long as I take down those bastards with me along the way." Bill had said to the disgruntled college girl as he puffed his cigarette in front of her.

Bill took out his pack of cigarettes and peered inside. _One left. _He reached for it in a fog of pain and slowly pulled it out. Taking out his rusting and old lighter, he lit the cigarette and waited for his final moments as the Tank smashed into the entrance of the room.

"Come at me, you bastard," said Bill as he gave a bloody grin to the final Tank as it leered at him with murderous eyes.

This was it. His rifle had no more ammo, no more weapons to be found around him, and Bill had no more strength to even lift his head. Bill prepared himself as he knew what would come next.

It was as if time slowed down. Bill saw the massive fist slowly being aimed at his head through his half closed eyes. A smile on his features.

_I'm sorry, Zoey. I guess this is the end of the stop for me._

The gigantic fist slowly descended closer and closer towards Bill. The yells and screams of his comrades fading from the background as Bill saw his death in front of him.

And yet even though he knew it was all over, he thought of the times they spent together. Laughing, crying, yelling, raging. The best times of his life, spent with his family, Zoey, Louis, and Francis. Zoey always talking about some zombie flick, Francis poking fun at Louis, and Louis retaliating with his own jokes and puns. Perhaps those times didn't mean anything to the others, as Bill never asked, but it meant everything to him, despite him never showing them his feelings.

"Goodbye." came the final word from the veteran's as he closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEEEEP!

Bill snapped his eyes open at the familiar sound. The fist, just a second away from smashing his head open stopped, as if the Tank was immobilized.

_Is that..is that a pipe bomb?! _

The tank roared and lumbered off towards the new sound, attracted towards it, as all infected were. Bill couldn't move, he had no strength left. He could only flinch when there was a sudden explosion outside the room, blood and sinew flying everywhere.

_Who could that be?! There's no way it could have been the others..._ Bill thought as he tried to move, to no avail.

A piercing silence filled his ears. The horde seemed to have been cleared by the pipe bomb that was thrown by someone...or something.

Soft footsteps were heard as something began to move closer and closer towards Bill.

_Who?...What could it be?_ thought Bill frantically as he remembered that he had no weapons and could barely even keep his eyes open as he stared towards the blinding light that was shining into the room.

_-crunch- -crunch-_

The footsteps getting closer and closer...and then a voice rang out-

"Jeez, you guys are stupid. Musta pulled every goddam zombie in a fifty mile radius to you. Good thing the racket from the bridge let me know where you were."

_That voice...that voice...NO WAY! _

"Your still alive?" Bill managed to spit out, shock piercing through his entire body as he recognized the voice.

"Now is that a way to greet an old friend who saved your sorry ass?" came the voice again..

"Be..Benny?!" said Bill as he opened his mouth in sheer shock, the lit cigarette falling from his mouth as he saw the stranger appearing in the doorway, grinning at the old veteran whose eyes were as round as saucers.


	2. A Flashback

**Pairings: **I may pair characters later in the story, but not for the first chapter (sorry guys!)

**Warnings: **This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Here we go, the second part of "A New Beginning". Sorry if this story may seem a bit bland at first. Trying to improve my story telling ;). I would greatly appreciate some feedback/reviews to hear what other people think I can improve on!

On we go!

Chapter 2

A Flashback

"Be..Benny?!" said Bill as he opened his mouth in sheer shock, the lit cigarette falling from his mouth.

"Surprised to see me?"

Bill couldn't help but feel a mixture of shock and relief. Relief that the 500 pound Tanks weren't charging at him anymore, and shock that he was saved by someone he never thought would reappear in front of him again.

That's when Bill began to feel the pain from his shattered ribs. He doubled up, groaning as the pain began to intensify.

"Shit!" coughed Bill as he began to cough up more blood.

Hurrying footsteps signaled Benny running towards him.

-crunch- Benny reached Bill and helped him sit up straight.

"Looks like I came a little too late," mumbled Benny as he crouched over Bill to inspect his torso. His face creased with worry.

Bill took a good look at Benny through the cloud of pain.

_He looks almost exactly the same. Still, it's hard to believe that it's been months since that incident... _

Benny wore an old t-shirt and ragged jeans, both having small cuts and holes in them, as well as faded patches of blood. He had placed down a heavy hunting rifle on the ground next to Bill. However, he had two pistols strapped onto his legs as well as a number of pipe bombs. He also had a medical kit strapped on his back, but what Bill studied the most was Benny's face.

There were few lines on his youthful face, but there was a noticeable scar on his left cheek, one that Benny didn't have from the time he met Bill. Benny's pitch black hair was short, perhaps being cut with a knife.

"Don't worry about me, it's only a bunch of broken ribs. Nothing compared to 'Nam," complained Bill as the pain in his bad leg came again.

"Look, I didn't follow you and your group for months just to hear you talk about 'Nam again." chuckled Benny warmly. "Here I got a med-kit."

Bill couldn't stop himself from smiling a bit, as Benny reminded him of Zoey. _I suppose youngsters like them always have a joke ready._

They both stayed silent as Benny opened the red box and tightly wrapped bandages around Bill's lower torso while Bill slowly puffed on his cigarette.

A distant rumble as heard once Benny finished.

"I'm guessing there's another horde coming. I guess all the commotion was louder than I thought." Benny got up and walked outside the doorway and studied the edges of the city.

Bill stared at Benny, biting his lip. He had something on his mind. Something on his mind since he saw Benny. Bill tried to find a good choice of words, but upon not finding any-

"So...what happened to the others?..." inquired Bill as he looked at the former college student's back, with a frown that deepened the lines on his face.

There was a silence between the two as Benny didn't turn around, while Bill looked at him expectantly.

It was as if the temperature dropped, as Benny turned around with an oddly closed and cold expression on his face.

"They all died," stated Benny flatly, staring at the old veteran.

Bill couldn't meet his eyes, and stared at the blood on the ground instead. There was silence between them again.

"But it's not your fault, you know." sighed Benny as he leaned on the wall.

Bill was surprised at that unexpected sentence as he looked up towards Benny's face. Toward the cold, and strangely unemotional, brown eyes of the young man.

"It's my fault, Bill."

Memories began to resurface. Memories that Bill never really wanted to come back to haunt him again.

-_Flashback-_

Screams and roars echoed across the city as a lone figure sneaked across the streets. The stranger wore old military clothes and had an assault rifle in his hands as he slowly advanced towards his location. He was careful to avoid the crowds of infected as they rambled about, groaning and scratching at the concrete.

However, a group saw him and began to rush towards him, attracted to him like flies to their favorite food. He barely faltered as he shot down each and every one of them, with grim lines set across his face.

_There should be a supply station around here somewhere, _He thought as he walked towards a set of dull, grey buildings. _Where could it-_

A sudden scream and the sound of bullets being shot made him quicken his pace towards the building closest to him, seeing the all too familiar light of a gun firing at night.

He rushed towards the sounds and yells as they intensified as he got closer.

"SHIT! _SHIT_! _THERE'S NO END TO THESE THINGS!" _

It was a small group of teenagers trying to defend themselves from a large group of infected.

A tall, spiky haired teenager was trying to shoot at the infected with a shotgun, but judging from the fear in his green eyes and the shaking as he held the gun, it was obvious that he was too scared of the infected to actually aim properly at them.

Another teenager was on the ground, her long red hair covering her face as she covered her mouth with her hands. She was sobbing in fear as the infected clawed and scratched at the other two. It didn't seem like she had a weapon on her, although it probably would have been useless at any rate.

The last teenager was doing most of the work. He seemed to know how to properly shoot as he brought down an infected with each shot he fired from his hunting rifle. And yet there was no way he could fend off the large number of undead as they threatened to swarm him and his group.

"HOLD ON!" yelled the stranger as he reached the group. His brow furrowed in concentration as he helped shoot down the infected with his own gun.

It took a while, but the infected were wiped out.

"Thanks for the help." The teenager with the hunting rifle smiled at the stranger. "Zack over here seems to like hitting the air more than the heads of these goddam things."

"Hey! You think it's that easy to shoot those scary-ass things that keep coming at you with their arms cut off and chunks bit off of their face?" complained Zack as he nervously scanned their surroundings for more infected.

"You alright, Chloe?" said the other teenager as he helped up the red-haired girl who was positively shaking at the sight of dead bodies in front of her.

_There's no way they can survive this shit. _Bill looked closely at all three of them. _Maybe the one with the hunting rifle, but not those two for sure._

Snapping the stranger out of his thoughts,

"The name's Benny, if you were wondering," Benny said as he held out his hand to shake the strangers.

"You part of the military?" He added as he scanned the Bill's clothes.

"Na, ex-military. A veteran from Vietnam. The name's Bill. Bill Overbeck." Bill said as he roughly shook Benny's hand.

"Well, we were going to a safehouse, right before we ran into this group. Wanna join?" Benny crouched and poked a dead infected with the tip of his rifle.

_I suppose four people is safer than just being by myself. Although I wonder if those two count at all. _

"Alright, lead the way." agreed Bill as he followed the group of three walking towards a distant red door blocks away.


	3. The Safe-house

Pairings:I may pair characters later in the story, but not for the first chapter (sorry guys!)

Warnings:This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may_be present.

Disclaimer:I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized_words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases_are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Hey guys! Here's the third chapter in this story. I hope you guys have enjoyed my writing so far. I still need to remember to add more details and stuff, but I'm sure I'll improve as I go along :D. I put in a flashback because I felt that I had to explain how Bill and Benny met because it would be silly for me to just continue on the story without it.

But anyways, enjoy! ;)

Chapter 3

The Safe-house

The group of four slowly made their way past the wreckages of cars and buildings. Benny covered their backs, while Zack and Bill looked to the front and side. Chloe was in the middle of all three of them, as she didn't have a gun or weapon.

_Not that she would even know how to use one. _Bill thought grimly.

The sky was pitch dark, as it was night. The only source of light came from the dim streetlights, which the group was cautious not to get too close to, as there was a high chance that the infected would start storming them once they saw them.

"How far is the safe house?" groaned Zack as he continued to scan for infected. "I'm totally not used to feeling as if I would die at any second.."

"Hey be happy that you have a group watching out with you. Trust me, you wouldn't want to be alone with swarms of infected all around you." replied Benny with a small hint of annoyance.

"Right, I really asked for a zombie apocalypse to happen," snorted Zack as he glanced back at Benny. "I mean I really want to see a huge crowd of zom-...INFECTED!"

Zack began to shoot at a group of infected as they charged towards the group, although he wasn't doing a good job and hitting the ground more often than a body.

"Dam, these guys never stop coming," Benny said through gritted teeth as he shot down infected after infected.

Bill shot alongside with them with his assault rifle, expertly taking down infected.

_With hardly a change in expression. _Noted Benny as he glanced a look at the old war veteran. _I guess war changes people more than you would think. _

When the last infected fell down from the onslaught of bullets, sounds of relief came from the teenagers.

"I think we're getting close now," a soft voice coming from Chloe as she pointed towards the red door just a block away.

"Hey, Bill, what are you doing here anyway?" Zack asked as he watched Bill scanning for more infected.

"Now's not the time to talk, sonny." was the short and gruff reply.

"Jeez, didn't know asking a question was so bad." Zack shot an angry stare at the old man.

"It's cause you might attract more infected with your loud voice. I mean you _were_ the radio spokesperson at the University. I'm surprised you haven't attracted all the infected in the city!" grinned Benny, his joke earning a death glare from Zack.

The group continued forward, the silence penetrating the thick night. It seemed to be safe as they reached the red door.

"Anyone in there?" whispered Chloe as Zack put his ear onto the door, listening for any source of sound.

"Nope, seems empty," Zack whispered back, although he did look a little scared at the prospect of entering a silent room.

_CLUNK!CRUNCH!_

The red door creaked and groaned as Zack opened it.

"Alright everyone in." said Bill as he continued to scan their surroundings.

_SLAM!_

Benny snapped the door back closed after everyone got in.

They took a moment to take in the contents of the room. There was two long sofas and a table between. A bathroom was there in the wall, someone must have broken the wall to get to it because it seemed to be a part of the building next to the safe house. Ammo and spare guns lined up on the floor as well as packages of food and water.

"_WOAH!_ Check out this pad!" yelled Zack as he unceremoniously threw himself onto one of the sofas. The springs groaning, protesting against his weight.

"I still don't get why there are safe houses like these, it's almost as if someone went ahead and made these for survivors like us." said Benny as he walked over to the pile of ammo to reload his gun.

"I'll use the bathroom first," said Chloe as she went in and closed the door behind her.

"Canned tuna?" said Benny as he raised the can towards Zack and Bill. "Guess we can't complain in the middle of an apocalypse."

"_Yeck_, I hate fish." Zack wrinkled his nose at the sight of the can.

Bill sat down on the other sofa and got out another cigarette. Soon, the entire room was filled with the smell of smoke.

"Hey man, quit smoking!" complained Zack as he covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve.

"I can smoke whenever I want. You sure weren't complaining when I saved your _butt _out there." Bill gave a glare at Zack.

The toilet flushed and Chloe stepped out looking refreshed, her long hair fanning out behind her.

"Quit it Zack, we should be thanking for saving us." giggled Chloe as Zack went red from being told off.

"Fine. Fine." Zack gave in. "Sorry about that. So what now?" he shot a question at Bill and Benny.

"First, we should introduce ourselves. No point in being strangers in a room." was Benny's answer.

"I'll go first then." Chloe began. "My name is Chloe Anderson."

"Zack Pearson." grinned Zack as he jutted his thumb towards his chest.

"Benny Gunsman. _Don't_ ask me why my parents named me that. The first and last name _totally_ don't combine." grunted Benny as he leaned on the wall.

"Like you guys already know. My name is Bill Overbeck. Vietnam veteran. I was traveling around to see if anyone else was alive." was the gruff answer from Bill.

"Well, all three of us are college students from the University just to the North." said Chloe, "We were out at Zack's house hanging out when the infected just started to pour in."

"Good thing my dad stored guns in the house." continued Zack. "We broke open the cabinet and shot them. Good thing Benny here knows how to handle a gun, or I think we would have been all eaten by now. We decided to check our houses first and then go back to the University to see if our friends were still alive."

"We went to my house first...and when we got there, the infected already..." sobbed Chloe as she remembered the gruesome sight of her parents corpses being eaten by infected.

"Hey you still have us." Benny walked over and hugged her close to his chest, as she sobbed into his shoulder. "And a grumpy old man who never smiles." Benny gave a small smile at Bill, who didn't smile back.

"I'm ok." Chloe gave a watery chuckle as she wiped her tears.

"I'll continue then." said Zack. "We went to Benny's house next, but no one was there, although the infected had already broken in. We tried to phone the police, but the line was cut. I guess the police station was overrun to." Zack looked down sadly.

"We decided to go to the University then. We were running low on ammo, so we decided to check the warehouses, but they were empty, well on supplies, they still had plenty of infected. I think that's when we met you when we were trying to get to safety." said Benny. "I think that's about it." Benny raised an eyebrow, expecting the veteran to say something about himself.

"I was in the hospital when this shit happened. I had to kill a nurse as I was getting surgery. I didn't know how I did it, but I made it back to my apartment and grabbed all my gear. That's when I started to travel around," Bill waved at the cloud of smoke surrounding him, a habit that smokers usually did.

"I see." replied Benny as he looked steadily at Bill. "That's pretty amazing that an old codger like you did all that. I guess you weren't in the military without a reason."

Bill snorted at that. "I was in the special forces." Earning a surprised look from Chloe and Zack.

"Heh. With your kind of skills with the gun. I'm not that surprised." smiled Benny. Bill was a little embarrassed at the sudden praise.

_Haven't gotten a good comment about me for years. _Bill thought as he puffed on his cigarette.

"I think we should call it a day." said Benny as he looked outside the small openings on the red door.

"What? But it's almost daytime! It would be easier for us to travel around when we can see more than a few feet from the streetlight!" retorted Zack as he shifted his position on the couch he sat on.

"Yeah. But that means the infected can see us better as well." Bill's reply shut Zack up.

"Exactly. So that means we should travel at night. Sleep in the day." Benny agreeing with Bill.

"I guess." said Zack as he turned over and started to snore.

"Hey! We didn't even eat yet." Chloe kicked Zack in the back.

"_Oof!_ Look you guys know I can't stand fish. _Leave me alone_!" groaned Zack as he rubbed the spot that she kicked.

"Food is food. I couldn't imagine what you guys at Vietnam." Benny gave a glance at Bill as he opened the can of fish.

"Hmph." said Bill. "This exact same thing. Although we called them 'C-rations'." answered Bill.

The group eat their meal in silence and each respectively going to their own spot to sleep. Bill laid on the ground with his pack as his pillow. Chloe and Zack took both the sofas. Benny sitting upright with the wall to his back and gun in between his hands.

_I wonder if we'll find more survivors out there. _Bill thought as he scratched his grizzly beard. _I guess we'll find out tomorrow. _

Author's note: Hey guys! Sorry if this chapter had too much conversation. I wanted to explain the background of the three teenagers a bit. But once again, thank you for reading my chapter. Shall we go on to the next one? ;)


	4. Past Recollections

Pairings: I may pair characters later in the story. Keep your eyes open! ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may_be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Hey there! I have read over my past chapters, and I have realized that I didn't really see the small grammar/typing errors I made! I'll make sure to double check from now on. I'm still new to the fanfiction website, so I have to figure out the way to edit my story (is that possible?). But anyways, thank you all for your views. I hope I get more reviews later, as I always appreciate feedback.

Hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

**Another Warning:** Oh I forgot to mention, sometimes I use italicized phrases for when I write about the dreams/flashbacks of characters. I try to make it clear when the phrase is a dream or a flashback. Note that dreams/flashbacks are _A LOT_ longer than the phrases I use for thoughts. I think it's a bit obvious, but just a heads up to you guys! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4

Past Recollections

_Red stained the world. Screams from every corner. Rotten corpses littering the ground. Street lamps indicated that it was a street, and yet nothing was there to be seen under the weak, dim light._

_All that was left was a lone man unsure of where or even how he got there. _

_"Whe...WHERE AM I?" screamed Bill. "Is anybody there?!"_

_"What the...? I was with those kids just a minute ago..." Bill ran around the street yelling. _

_Am I alone? _

_How did I get here?_

"Bill...Bill." came a soft voice.

_Who said that? Bill turned around and saw a sight he never imagined he would ever see. Screaming, grunting, drooling, moaning. A tidal wave of infected rushing towards him._

"BILL! WAKE UP!" came the voice again, although this time it was much, much louder.

_Hundreds of hands and mouths were getting closer and closer. Infected screaming, as they got closer and closer to another meal. _

"N..N...Nooooooo..." groaned Bill as he tossed and turned on the floor.

"Dam it! Wake up! _WAKE UP OLD MAN!_" Benny stopped shaking Bill and slapped him straight across his grizzly bearded face.

Bill gasped, waking up in a fog of fear and pain. He instinctively pushed Benny over, grabbed him by the neck and put his rifle onto Benny's throat.

"Morning." Benny managed to choke out as Bill regained his senses and let Benny go.

"You were having a nightmare." Benny coughed as he rubbed his neck.

_He has a heck of a grip for an old man. _

Bill didn't answer and lit up another cigarette. Shaking a little from the vision of hundreds of zombies overrunning him.

"Wanna talk about it? I mean the others are still asleep and we still have an hour or so before its night." came from Benny as he looked over the shaken veteran.

"No thanks." snapped Bill, a little angry that a soldier like him was being comforted by a college kid over a silly dream.

Benny pursed his lips and walked towards the red door.

"I woke up an hour before. Couldn't sleep. I mean who _can_? With this shit happening around us, I'm surprised we're even alive." said Benny thoughtfully.

"Trust me, I can _understand_ if you have nightmares. If you don't wanna talk about it, then don't. But you can talk to any of us. We are friends right? I mean you did kick a lot of zombie _ass_ out there and even saved us! I would consider anyone who does that to be my friend." Benny gave another one of his smiles at Bill.

_He smiles too much. _Bill took another puff of his cigarette.

_Friends, huh? All of mine died years back. _"Listen kid, don't worry about me. You need to worry about that lazy friend of yours and that girl."

Benny sighed as he looked back into the room after a brief look outside the door's small opening. After hesitating for a moment, he let it all out-

"Zack is my best friend, known him all my life. I mean he isn't cut out to kill anything, even if it's zombies who are out to eat his guts. He probably just needs time to get over that fact before he could improve on shooting." Benny continued as Bill listened attentively-

"Chloe, I don't know. She's still shaken from her parent's deaths. I mean she's my girlfriend since freshman year at college. I know that I should protect her and everything, but I can't look out for _both_ of them! Not when I can't even tell if _I _could keep this up".

Benny slumped down the door and sat down hard on the ground, sighing. Bill took a moment to study the teenager. He could tell that Benny had thought about their situation, well, more than Bill had caught on at least.

"Did your friends tell you that you ramble on a lot?" Was the veteran's answer.

Benny smiled at the comment.

"Heh. I dunno. It's just that I feel as if I can talk to you without holding back. I mean it's weird.

Minutes passed by in the room. The only sounds were Zack's loud snoring, Chloe's soft breathing, and Bill's puffing on his cigarette.

"Hey." said Bill, shaking Benny from his thoughts as he sat in front of the closed door as he looked up to Bill.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you want to go the University? I mean I doubt anyone would be alive there." Bill was curious as to why they would want to go to a caged up hole. No doubt that the students were all either dead or turned into an infected.

"We wanted to make sure of something. Well, _I_ wanted to make sure of something at least." Benny bit his lip as he answered.

Bill raised an eyebrow at Benny, which made the teenager go on.

"Well for starters, we checked my house too." Benny began in a low voice as he scratched on the hard concrete floor.

"There was no one there. No blood, no break-in, nothing. You see, I wanted to know where my dad was."

"Your mom?" Bill asked, noting that Benny didn't put his mom into that sentence.

"My mom left us years ago, probably because of the way my father acted when he came back from the 'Nam war."

This piece of information surprised Bill enough for him to stop puffing on his cigarette.

"Really?" Bill asked as he gazed intently at Benny. Benny looked surprised at the veteran's sudden interest in his dad.

"Yeah. I guess all the gore and blood got to him in the end. He was never really the same since he came back. Used to be the life of the party. When he was back, he just..._sat there_...if you know what I mean? Was like a ghost."

"What was his name?" Bill was becoming curious.

"Jeff Gunsman." Benny said as he put down his rifle on the ground.

_Jeff? Why does it sound so famili- _It was almost as if an electric surge went through Bill as he remembered the time his leg was hit by shrapnel.

_BOOM!_

_Fire and explosions razed the landscape. _

_A younger Bill marched across the jungle with his group of fellow soldiers. Less wrinkles, auburn beard, with piercing blue eyes. Yet nothing was more evident than the grim expression he wore as he surveyed his surroundings. _

_BOOM!_

_A sudden explosion came right by the group. Men yelled as pieces of earth, both large and small, suddenly rained upon them. _

_Silence._

_"Are you alright?" came a voice._

_Bill groaned as he woke up from his daze. _

_"Wha..What happened?" Bill mumbled towards the fellow soldier. He tried to get up, but couldn't for some reason. Huh? Bill looked at his legs-_

_At that exact moment Bill felt a colossal amount of pain coming from his right leg. _

_He began to scream. Never in his life had he screamed as loud as he did right there and then. _

_"Your going to be fine! Just calm down and let me bind your leg!" growled the soldier as he struggled with Bill's thrashing._

_It was a tense 10 minutes before the soldier finished. Bill panting and groaning, the pain becoming a dull throb. _

_"Here. Take my radio." The soldier handed him the heavy, cold box as he got up._

_"Call for emergency medical help. I gotta get back to my group. I ran to see what happened when the explosion came so close to us. Hope the leader of my group doesn't put that as desertion." The soldier grinned at Bill. _

_"I hope I live this through. Gotta get back to the miss and my boy. We decided to name him Benny. Nice name, huh?" The soldier began to march towards the distant explosions._

_Bill was still panting, but managed to yell out-"HEY! At least give me your name, gotta return the favor." He clutched the radio tightly as the soldier turned and gave him a cocky smile._

_"The name's Jeff. Jeff Gunsman." _

Author's Note: Thanks for reading this chapter! You know, the game never really mentioned what happened when Bill was in the Vietnam War. I just thought it would be a nice tie-in to have a bigger connection between Bill and Benny. Tell me what you guys think! :)


	5. Separation

Pairings: I may pair characters later in the story. Keep your eyes open! ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may_be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Hey guys! Can't believe that I wrote to chapter five already. As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you guys keep reading my story. I'm sorry if the flashback is too long, I just don't feel comfortable putting the _entire_ flashback in one chapter. Seeing a super long page just doesn't seem appealing to me, and I doubt people like scrolling down just to read a single chapter, but that's just me.

Hope you guys enjoy chapter 5! :)

Chapter 5

Separation

"Uh, what's wrong? Bill?" The question snapped Bill back to the present. Benny was eyeing him curiously.

Bill stared into the youthful face, taking note of his features. Benny had pretty much the same features his dad had. Deep brown eyes, thin eyebrows, light brown hair but the one thing Bill finally noticed-

_He has his father's smile. Not cocky, but it's the same smile for sure. _

"I can't believe it. I can't believe I actually met you." For the first time in years, Bill gave out a genuine smile.

"Huh? W...What do you mean?" Benny asked, not understanding as he moved himself into a more comfortable position on the floor.

"I mean I met your father in the war. He's the one who saved me from dying. A bomb went off right next to us and he's the one left his group to see what happened. He's the one that wrapped my messed up leg." Bill patted his bad leg, chuckling.

" I doubt I would've lived if he didn't give me his radio."

"Really?" Benny asked in utter disbelief, eyes round like saucers. "My dad _did_ mention helping a guy out during the war, but I didn't think he actually _saved_ someone."

"The kind of guy he was, I'm not surprised that he didn't think of it that much. Although I still remember him to this day." Bill took another cigarette out, grabbed his lighter in his jacket, and took his time lighting it up.

"I suppose this is what you call a miracle? I think you repaid the favor though." said Benny as he studied the floor of the safehouse while Bill took a deep puff on his cigarette.

"Really?" Bill raised his eyebrow again.

"Hey you saved us didn't you?" grinned Benny as he looked up at Bill.

"I suppose it's... _fate_...? My dad saving you and then you show up outta nowhere years later and saved me and my friends?" Benny gave a small chuckle.

Bill hadn't thought of it like that. _But the kid has a point._

Deciding to leave the story telling for another time, Bill returned to the subject they were talking about before. "But you said you wanted to _confirm _something right?"

The change in Benny's expression was almost instantaneous. Humor left his face, leaving only a mask of worry and fear.

"When I didn't find my dad at home, I decided to search for him. The only clue to wherever he went to was an open letter on the living room table."

"A letter? From who?"

Benny couldn't help but laugh awkwardly as he rubbed the backside of his head. "From the University. I guess we three liked hanging out a bit more than actually going to class. I'm sure my dad was going to the University to chew me out. Although, I didn't tell him I was at Zack's with Chloe."

"I see. That's why you guys wanted to go back."

_Kids. _Bill snorted silently to himself. _Once they're in a group they forget everything. _

"I heard that you know."

Benny got up and slowly walked towards the bathroom. His feet making soft sounds on the cold concrete floor. Benny turned a bit and glanced at Bill with one eye-

"I'm going there. I have to know if my dad is still alive or not."

Benny opened the bathroom door.

"I need to know if he's...if he's..."

Benny couldn't say it. Only a strange croak filled the blank, as he tried to utter the word. He swallowed, but found that a hard lump had suddenly appeared in his throat. He quickly closed the door behind him, gasping and shuddering.

_Hold yourself together Benny! Dad was IN the army. No way he could've...could be...dead..._ Benny splashed cold water on his face, hoping it would calm him down. _Don't get all emotional now!_

Bill was still sitting there. Cigarette in his mouth as he gazed intently at the bathroom door.

_I guess he does have a serious side to him. _

Bill felt both concern and surprise at the same time. Concerned that Benny was _very_ close to breaking down and crying. Surprise that he was actually concerned about someone. Having been alone by himself for years had made Bill into what people would probably call "grumpy old geezer", a lonely old man whose only company comprised of alcohol and past memories.

The toilet flushed and Benny walked out looking like he usually did, his eyes just a bit red.

"I think we should wake up the others. Gotta get ready for the road." Benny said to Bill in a flat tone.

Bill nodded showing that he agreed, although he still didn't hear the other reason why the three wanted to go to the University. _I'll ask later, _thought Bill flicking his cigarette.

"_HEY! WAKE UP!_" Benny smacked Zack on the shoulder with his fist.

"_OUCH!" _Zack groaned as he shot up. "Goddam it dude, can't you just shake me." Zack rubbed his shoulder as he scratched his messed up bed-hair. His usual spiky black hair, looked like a broken mop as it stuck out in odd places.

"I swear, if I ever wake up before you, Ima smack you with my gun." Zack glared at Benny. His green eyes bloodshot.

"Right, as if that would ever happen." Benny rolled his eyes as he shook Chloe. "If you slept any harder, you wouldn't even wake up to a bomb exploding next to you."

"Mmphf?" Chloe muttered as she woke up and stretched lazily. Her red hair messed up as bad as Zack's.

"Rise and shine, well, probably not the best term since it's almost night." Benny gave a small kiss on her cheek and sat down next to her.

"Use the bathroom and lets gather around this table when you guys are ready." Benny stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Dibs!" Chloe got up and ran to the bathroom before Zack could.

"_HEY!_ I gotta go really badly!" Zack pounded on the door desperately.

"Ladies first right?" Was the cheeky answer from Chloe.

"_C'mon pleaseeeeee!" _Zack answered in his best imitation of Chloe's voice.

"Just wait man. I swear you guys act like you're 11 or something." Benny said as Zack grumbled and waited for Chloe to finish up her business.

"Bill you gonna sit with us?" Benny asked, patting the coach with his hand.

"After I use the bathroom." was the reply in a usual gruff tone.

20 minutes later, everyone huddled around the table. Chloe looking worried, Zack leaning back with indifference, Bill and Benny leaning forward looking at a map Bill had stored in his pack.

"So the University is just a few streets up from here. But the problem is that it's most likely _filled_ with infected since that was the shopping district." Benny pointed out the streets to Bill.

"Why don't we just walk around it then?" Zack asked uncertainly, no doubt afraid of more encounters with infected.

"Because that would take too long, and I don't wanna risk staying out there for too long. We might attract too much attention from those infected if we make too much of a racket from shooting them." Benny replied in a it's-so-obvious-why-are-you-asking tone.

"I mean it _is_ the fastest way to get there." Chloe said as she pointed out the straight line from their location to the University interrupting Zack from retorting at Benny. "All we have to do is walk straight up, and we would be there in around a half-hour or so."

"But there's probably _hundreds_ of infected there..." Bill mumbled as he swished the cigarette around his mouth.

"I know, but I think I have an idea." Benny said a sudden flash of inspiration.

"You guys know that each building has ladders and are close together right?" Chloe and Zack nodded.

"Well, what if we climb our way through? I mean it shouldn't be _that_ hard, although it might be a strain on you, Bill."

"Don't worry about me. Just worry about if you guys fall or not." Bill sounded a bit annoyed at the silent message about his bad leg.

"Alright, but don't forget that the buildings stop a few blocks away from the University. So, we still have to go down and make our way in on the ground." Benny said thoughtfully.

"_Easy peezy_. Nothing to it." Zack grinned. "You're telling me you made up this plan like right now?

"Hey don't look so surprised. I mean I am _way_ smarter than you." Benny's joke earned him a kick from Zack.

"Shall we pack up?" Chloe asked with a laugh as Benny rubbed his arm where Zack kicked him.

"Yeah." Zack replied.

The four of them got up and began to pack what they needed and what they needed to restock on from the safe house's supplies.

"Here." Benny handed Chloe a spare pistol. "You're going to need to defend yourself somehow."

"But..but..." Chloe gripped the firearm awkwardly. "There's no way I can shoot those _things_. Look I don't even know how to fire this thing."

Benny stopped what he was doing and gripped both of her hands together and looked to her eyes directly. "_Listen_ to me. Zack, Bill, and I can't keep an eye out for you all the time. There's going to be the time where you have to protect yourself. Ok?"

Chloe knew he was right and accepted the pistol without further complaints. "Sorry about that." She gave a thank-you kiss to Benny and let him give her some tips on using a pistol.

Bill restocked on ammo and added some to his pack, as well as some cans of food. _Need to find cigarettes too_. Bill noted to himself, as his pack was running dangerously low.

"Hey why can't we just take all this ammo and food? I mean we have enough space in our packs to have it all." Zack asked to no one in particular.

"Kid, do you have any brains?" Bill replied trying to wave away the cigarette smoke surrounding him. Zack opened his mouth to retort, but Bill cut him off-

"You _do realize_ that we have to be able to run. Not just run, mind you, but quickly too. There's no way we can run if we have that much stuff on us. Our guns already weigh us down over 10 pounds. Ammo and supplies add even more. You must be stupid to think we can climb ladders or run when our backpacks have _boulders_ in them." Bill gave a grim smile to Zack, who was turning red as he realized Bill was right.

"Alright. I think we're ready." Benny walked up to the three. "Zack, we have to leave supplies to other survivors, quit being so selfish."

"_Let's just go ok_?" Zack opened the door without another word, feeling ticked off that he was the target of their insults.

There was a cold breeze as the four stepped out of the safety of the building. The moon gleamed through the thick clouds in the dark sky.

Benny pointed to a ladder just right next to them that led up to the top of the building. The other three nodded and began to climb up in turns. It was a tense minute as all of them climbed and reached the roof.

"So far so good." breathed Zack in relief.

Benny walked up to the edge of the roof and looked around. The building was tall enough to let him see most of the city. Fire, smoke, and destruction lined everywhere. Not one place wasn't filled with infected shuffling and moaning. It was a sad sight. Benny remembered just a few weeks ago, the streets were littered with live people who were up and about their business. Sure, it was noisy. Sure, it was crowded. But compared to this...

_Is this the end of humanity?_ Benny gazed the city with a deep, sad look.

"C'mon we gotta keep moving." Bill put a hand on Benny's shoulder, knowing what he was thinking about.

Benny nodded, gripping his rifle tightly, and all four continued on their way. Not a word was spoken as they each jumped over numerous buildings, no infected on the roofs at all. The only sound was their feet crunching over the rocky surface of the roofs and the distant groans of the infected tens of feet below them. It wasn't long before the small group reached the final building.

"The University is just right there." Chloe pointed. "Just a few blocks away..."

"See that intersection? Just go right. That leads right to the gates, a block down. Left just leads into the west part of the city." Benny said.

The group climbed down to the strangely empty street below.

"I don't see any infected? That's _weird_..." Zack looked around nervously as he looked and listened for one.

"I guess there wasn't anyone here when the outbreak happened." Chloe answered in an uneasy voice.

"Let's make our way slowly then." Bill leaded the way towards the intersection.

The group carefully made their way down the first block, trying to keep the sound of them moving to a bare minimum. Nothing was to be noted for as the group traveled down the ruined streets. Broken and abandoned cars lined up randomly across the streets. Blood stained everything and mutilated bodies littered the streets.

_Let's hope we don't run into anything. _Bill thought grimly as he scanned their left and right. _I have a bad feeling about this._

Suddenly and ironically, almost as if fate wanted to make a cruel joke, a car alarm rang off right next to them.

_ERRRR! ERRRRRRR! ERRRRRRRRRRRRR!_

All four survivors looked in utter horror and disbelief. Bill whirled around as he heard the distant screaming and roaring, signaling a huge mass of infected being attracted to the noise. There was no doubt that there would be too many for them to hold off.

_NO FUCKING WAY!_

Bill cursed under his breath. "_SHIT_."

"_RUN_!" Without another word, all four of them began to run down the block as the screaming of the infected got closer and closer.

_Just a few blocks left_. Benny panted as they ran past more cars and dead bodies.

The four made a good pace down the street. They would make it. They were so close to the iron gates of the school. So very close. There was the approaching intersection...

All they had to do was turn right...

Until one of them stopped dead in his tracks.

"_Benny?!"_ Chloe asked incredulously as all three of them skidded to a stop and looked back at him.

_No...No...It can't be..._

Benny was staring to the left of the intersection. A ripped grey jacket was on the ground. It seemed to mean something to Benny as he ran forward a few meters and picked it up.

"Benny?!" Zack shook Benny, looking at him with fear. "They're still coming you know..."

"This...This is my dad's jacket..." Benny said breathlessly as he showed them the name on the front of the jacket.

_J. Gunsman_ read the small plaque on the front.

Benny's face paled as the blood drained from his face as he noticed a small trail of blood going off to the left.

"M..My dad _was _here."

Without another word to the other three, Benny ran off to the left, leaving the others with shocked faces.

"HEY! _HEY! COME BAACCKKK!_" Zack ran off, following Benny.

"Dam that idiot!" Bill was about to start running too, but a soft hand held him back.

"_Don't_. There's no way you can keep up with us if we run like that, not when you have a bad leg. No offense." Chloe apologized to Bill.

Bill opened his mouth to state otherwise, but Chloe cut him off-

"I know. I know you don't want to just leave us, but you should go to the University first..."

"We'll try to meet up with you later." Chloe looked directly into Bill's eyes as she said that, the look of fear made it evident that she didn't believe her words. The shadows of infected reflected off of the semi-lit buildings. They were almost here.

"But..." Bill began, screams becoming louder by the second.

"There's _no_ _time_. Promise me this, Mr. Overbeck. Benny or Zack never told you right? We all wanted to search for our other friend. My room-mate in college. She should have came back from her parent's house by now, that's the only reason she wasn't here with us at Zack's. _Promise_ us that you'll find her and keep her safe. She's been my best girl friend since high school." Chloe hesitated, but gave a hug to the surprised veteran and ran off to follow the other two.

_Way too into zombie films though._ Chloe gave a small smile to herself as she ran.

Bill gritted his teeth in frustration as he noted that she was right about him not being able to catch up to the fleet footed teens. _I'll go to the school first then. At least it should be safer there than on the streets._

He was about to turn right before he remembered something.

"HEY! AT LEAST GIVE ME HER NAME!" Bill yelled at Chloe's retreating back.

Chloe turned and yelled the last words Bill would ever hear from her.

"_Zoey_! _Zoey Kingston_!"

The infected were in sight now. Hundreds of them running towards Bill.

_Alright. I promise._ Bill took one last glance at the long red hair whipping behind the back of its owner in the distance before turning and running towards the school.

_The trio and Bill ran off in opposite directions. Each not knowing if they would ever meet again. But they all knew... knew that they would never forget each other from the brief time they met. _

Author's note: Thanks for reading chapter five! This chapter is a bit longer than the others since I didn't want the flashback to continue for another five chapters. I wonder if you guys liked how I tried to connect the characters a bit more as well as adding in a little tie-in to Zoey. I just felt like it made sense if Zack, Benny, and Chloe knew Zoey and that they all went to the same college. I've always wondered how the survivors in L4D met. All that I know was that they met two weeks after the infection (I think it was two weeks?). I suppose this is my version of how Bill would eventually meet Francis/Zoey/Louis. Hope you guys review/comment! :D


	6. Reunion

Pairings: I may pair characters later in the story. Keep your eyes open! ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may_be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Hey y'all! Chapter six here. I'm sorry if any of you didn't like how long the flashback was, but I hope you guys understand the background of Benny a little bit better from all those chapters I wrote.

Here we go! Enjoy! And don't forget to comment/review! :D

Chapter 6

Reunion

-Present Day-

Bill looked down from Benny's eyes and frowned, thinking hard.

_Zack...Chloe...they both died?..._

Benny sighed as he stopped leaning and walked over to the sitting veteran.

"We should get moving. Can't let your group over there wait much longer." Benny said with a grim face.

Bill grunted as Benny helped him onto his feet.

"I'm fine, lemme walk by myself." Bill said gruffly, not wanting to lean on the teenager.

Benny let Bill go ahead a little to see if he could walk by himself, but stepped in when he was about to fall over. Forcing Bill's arm around his shoulder, smirking-

"Still think you can do it?"

Bill frowned at his joke. "No need to be a smartass."

The both of them slowly made their way outside of the generator room.

Bill held his breathe as he saw the sight outside. Mounds of infected laid on top of each other. The Tank that was about to kill him looked like it took the explosion directly, as the toughened skin was actually blown off.

"I guess I aimed that one pretty well."

Benny gave a small smile to Bill.

"I hoped that I didn't make it too late when I saw you crawl into that room, with that Tank following you."

Bill didn't respond, but looked back towards where he, Zoey, Francis, and Louis had entered before. The distant rumble that they both heard was becoming louder, but still a far ways off.

"BILL! BILL!"

A familiar voice echoed towards them.

Back on the bridge, Zoey, Francis, and Louis cheered and shouted as they saw their leader making his way back, albeit with a stranger helping him limp back.

"I knew that old codger wouldn't die. Toughest bastard I ever met." Francis pounded Louis' back as he grinned and whooped.

"Yes, we get it. We're all happy that he's alive, but you don't have to freaking pound me." Louis rolled his eyes as he smiled, wiping a tear away from his eye.

"Thank goodness. He's alive." Zoey wiped her eyes with her red sleeves. Just moments before she was screaming like a lunatic, crying as she wildly shot at the Tank that knocked Bill down.

"Hey lower the bridge so they can come up." Louis told the biker.

"Since when were you the boss of me?." Francis grumbled, but still did what Louis said. He walked down to the button and pressed it.

The bridge began to lower down with a loud _-CREAK-_

"Who could that be though? I didn't see anyone when we got here." Louis said thoughtfully to Zoey.

"I guess we'll find out. I mean he shouldn't be a bad person if he saved Bill." replied Zoey curious herself.

"Right, like the military?"

Louis still remembered the way the military treated them like lab rats.

"Caging us and then deciding that we should all die after they got the info they needed..."

"Look, I was in the same boat as you, ok? And in case you didn't know, I had a _gun_ pointed in my face." Zoey shot an angry look at Louis who backed down.

"Alright, alright. Let's give this guy a chance."

"I wouldn't mind shooting him with my shotgun." The comment signaled Francis' return from pressing the button for the bridge to go up.

"Seriously? All you ever have on your mind is killing things." Louis rolled his eyes at Francis.

"What's life without alcohol and violence?" The biker playfully smacked Louis with the end of his shotgun, earning him a death glare from the former IT-man.

-_CREAK- _

The bridge went down fully and both men at the bottom began to make their way towards the group.

_Hm. That guy looks familiar. _Zoey frowned as she tried to recall Benny's face.

_It's been so long since we've seen another survivor. The military doesn't count._

After a few minutes Bill and Benny reached the top of the bridge.

"Hey guy-" Bill began before Zoey flung herself onto him.

"_OOFF"_ Bill grunted in pain as Zoey cried on his shoulder.

"Woah kid, calm down. My ribs are all messed up." Bill smiled as he patted the college girl's head. _Some things never really change huh?_

Louis and Francis grinned at the two, knowing just how worried Zoey was about the old veteran.

"So..Sorry." Zoey sniffled as she let go of Bill.

"You better not do anything like that _again_!" added Zoey as gave a smack to Bill shoulder.

"Alright, calm yer horses." Bill leaned against a pillar, as Benny had let go of him when Zoey rushed at him like an infected.

"So who are you?" Louis asked Benny curiously, looking at him up and down.

Zoey suddenly realized that she forgot all about the stranger when Bill came back. Turning around, she was about to introduce herself, before she saw his face.

With a shock that might've raised her ponytail if anyone actually looked at it, she gasped-

"_BENNY?!"_

Zoey clamped her mouth with her hands as she saw her friend from college. _He's..he's alive?!_

"Wait, Zoey. You know this guy?" Francis inquired with his eyebrow raised.

Zoey took a moment to recover from her shock. "His name's Benny, he used to hang out with me and a couple of friends from college."

Louis was surprised as well. _Well I'll be._

It wasn't everyday that any of them met someone they knew from back before the infection spread.

"Hey Zoey. Long time no see." Benny gave an awkward smile at the fellow former-college student.

"Hmph. I guess that means I can't shoot you huh?" Francis studied the teenager.

"So I'm guessing you must be Francis?" replied Benny as he eyed the biker.

"Hu..Huh? How did you know that?" This time, Francis really did aim his shotgun at Benny's face.

"Stop it Francis!" Bill yelled as he watched the biker looking suspiciously at Benny.

Zoey and Louis both froze as they were shocked that Benny would even know Francis.

Benny smiled at Francis. However, there was no warmth from the smile at all, and it didn't reach past his cold, unemotional brown eyes.

Benny grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, surprising the hell out the biker.

_Who...What is he? _Francis felt uneasy for the first time in years. _Who the hell just grabs the barrel of a shotgun?_

"You really want to shoot the guy that saved one of your own?"

Francis gave a frustrated grunt as he realized that Benny _had_ a point.

"Thought so." Benny said as the biker slowly lowered his gun, still glaring suspiciously at Benny.

Benny smirked. "But if you _really _want to know. I followed you guys for months."

They all gave a start at that piece of information.

_He FOLLOWED us? _Zoey couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I was always a step behind though. Made it to the safe houses you guys were at."

"How did you know we were there?" Bill sounded a bit unnerved.

"No one would actually think of smoking during this kind of hell. And trust me, there were plenty of cigarettes on the ground for me to guess which direction you guys were going in." That reply making Bill grin despite himself.

Zoey and Louis both chuckled at the joke, even Francis gave a good laugh.

"I told you someone would notice, you old geezer." Francis joked towards Bill.

"Yeah, yeah." Bill began to search for some cigarettes, feeling unlike himself without one in his mouth.

"There were also some messages on the walls. I learned how to make pipe bombs from them." Benny explained patiently.

"Who did that?" Zoey eyed the rest of the group.

"Uh..Well I wanted to leave behind something to others. You know to help out?"

Louis looking uncomfortable as four sets of eyes trained onto him.

"You put our _names _on the wall?" Francis ogled at the former IT-man. "Are you stupid or just dumb as shit?"

"Hey man, I hoped that others would come and join us. And besides if I was dumb then you would be _beyond retarded_."

That insult from Louis ignited another one of their usual fierce arguments.

Zoey rolled her eyes and walked towards Bill, motioning Benny to follow her as well.

"Are they always that loud?" Benny pointed a thumb towards the two men screaming and yelling at each other.

"Trust me, you get used to it." Zoey smiled.

The rumbling was getting louder and louder. Benny looked at the outskirts of the town and barely made out small dots coming closer and closer.

"I think we should go soon." said Benny to the other two.

"Don't worry, we found a boat, that's why we needed to raise the bridge in the first place." Zoey said.

_And almost killed Bill when we did..._ Zoey thought to herself sadly.

Bill told Benny the plan of going to the Florida keys. As they talked, Zoey studied Benny curiously, taking note of how he looked.

_He looks a little bit different, but almost the exact same since the last time all of us hang out._ _It looks like he has something on his mind though..._ Zoey decided to leave it until they were on the boat.

After Bill finished explaining their plan, Benny nodded-

"Should we get going then?"

"I guess we should, there's nothing left here to do anyways." Zoey answered as she turned to look back at the other two still spiting insults at each other.

"_HEY GUYS!_ Let's get moving."

Louis and Francis both paused and glared at each other before beginning to pack up.

_They are SO going to argue on the boat. _Benny chuckled to himself as he saw the two not looking at each other as they grabbed their packs.

"Alright, let's get the bridge up. Francis you do it." Bill ordered.

Francis groaned. "First Louis and now you. I swear I'm going to make you guys pay."

All four of them laughed as the biker shuffled away to make the bridge go up.

Author's Note: Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed reading this. Don't forget to comment/review! :3


	7. A Promise

Pairings: I may pair characters later in the story. Keep your eyes open! ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Ok, back to it. To continue on the adventure of the new group of five survivors. I hope you guys enjoy reading, and as usual, please comment and review!

Chapter 7

A Promise

-_cough- -wheeze-_

"_Rahhhhh..." _

The sounds of the smoker was unheard as the bridge was being raised for the second time.

"_AGHHHHH..."_

The smoker sensed live beings close to it. Attracted, it began taking staggering steps as it walked past countless bodies of its fellow undead.

If one were to describe how the smoker looked, perhaps they would say an octopus had been implanted into a humans face. Tentacles stuck out at odd angles, unimaginable number of bumps corded one side of its body. No one could tell what hang below its chin...A lung? A sac? An anomaly indeed.

However, this smoker had its eyes trained on a group of five as they walked towards the edge of a river. Greedily, it chose its primary target, a big tattooed man, in the front of the group. Gathering up its energy it-

-_Moments Before-_

Louis and Francis were arguing over who would get to sleep in the small cabin inside the boat, while Bill was limping behind with Zoey helping him walk. Benny was behind them rifle at hand as he scanned around, knowing full well that there was never a time where there couldn't be infected lying in wait.

With the old veteran leaning on her, Zoey couldn't help but look over at him. The green beret, the blue eyes, scratchy white beard, everything seemed the same. Just a while ago, she believed that she would never be able to hear his gruff voice, the voice that had lectured and guided them through their journey. Smiling, she shuffled a bit closer to the veteran, wanting to treasure the few moments of peace they had together.

Bill noticed the small shift, but didn't comment on it. He looked a little to the right, knowing full well Zoey's eyes were still trained on him. Bill wasn't really used to such attention, being alone for years had done that. He couldn't help but feel a bit awkward, and yet, mixed in with the awkward feeling, was a small glow of happiness that seeped through him. He smiled to himself on the inside, knowing that someone cared for him and his wellbeing.

"Look, I should get to sleep in it cause I'm the one that's still injured." Louis shot at Francis, cutting off Zoey and Bill's thoughts, as the biker retaliated with a _very _mature comeback-

"Pfffff. So? I called dibs on it _first_. And besides it's _your fault_ that your stupid ass went and stuck out your leg at a Witch."

"I swear, it's always like I'm talking with a _ten_ year old every time I talk to you."

Benny sighed in exasperation the pointless argument finally getting to him, earning the amused looks of Bill and Zoey, both of them knowing what a pain in the ass the duo was when they argued.

"Hey be happy. At least you _have _someone to tal-"

Francis was cut off as a thick slimy tongue as strong as a rope suddenly pulled him away from the group. His head slammed onto the ground, winding him and made him drop his shotgun from the shock. He tried to push himself out of the tongue, a useless effort considering that the tongue had more strength to it than a snake did when encircling its prey.

"_AUGHHH!"_ Francis yelled at the top of his lungs as was being dragged away. "_HEL-" _

_BANG!_

A single shot from Benny killed the smoker, having hit the smoker perfectly on the head. The force of the bullet sent the smoker tumbling away a feet or two, blood plastering the ground as its blown up face rolled around, the tongue still sticking to it.

Francis goggled at the Benny, no one had ever saved him from a smoker that fast before.

"You're welcome." Benny walked over and extended his hand at the dumb-founded biker.

"Trust me, it was either me or these bastards when I was following you guys."

Benny could remember all the close times a smoker almost got to him. It was hard work trying to kill the smoker before it would stretch out its tongue and pull him in, considering he was all alone with no one to back him up. The one time a smoker almost got him was when it caught Benny's leg, rasping in victory, before Benny managed to hit him with a Molotov he saw as he was being pulled towards the smoker. Screaming, it hit the ground as it burned, the tongue loosening around Benny's leg, Benny limping towards a safe spot.

Francis accepted his help and stood up, the thick tongue falling to the ground like a dead python. Benny walked ahead, continuing to look around for more infected.

"Man you look stupid as crap with that look on your face." Louis smirked as Francis gave him a you're-so-dead look.

"He's good, where'd you meet someone like _that_?" Francis glanced back at Bill curiously. "None of the bastards we met before could shoot for a damn."

Bill shrugged, leaving it to Zoey to answer-

"His dad used to be in the military. He always dragged him off to some practice place. Benny usually never mentioned much about it, besides the fact that his dad was pretty obsessed about him knowing how to use a gun. Although, I never thought he was _that_ good." Zoey remembered the times that the four of them all watched films together, Benny was the only one who would joke with her about zombies while they were being plastered with bullets. Zack and Chloe on the other hand, always groaned in disgust when they saw the blood and guts flying everywhere.

"Well that explains his attitude, I guess." Louis nodded at Francis.

"You guys done talking about me, or you guys gonna wait for that horde to reach us?" Benny gruffly shot back at the other four raising an eyebrow, an uncanny impersonation of Bill.

The familiar tone and expression made all of them laugh heartily as they quickened their pace. (And in Bill's case, limping)

Bill still leaned heavily on Zoey, the latter shuffling very close to him. Zoey had to tighten her grip around his waist as they tried to keep up with the other three. They were both close enough to hear each other breathing, although they didn't say anything, each enjoying each other's warm as they made their way towards the ship.

After a few minutes, the ship was in plain sight. The waters were calm as it peacefully hit the sides of the boat, acting almost as if the infection had never happened. Ships of all types and sizes littered the river. Some were tipped over on their sides, slowly and inevitably sinking into the depths of the ocean as water filled their interiors. Almost as if wanting to taunt the group, bodies of zombies lay all across the borders of the river, rotting away with flies eagerly digging in their feast.

"You found a ship in this kind of mess?" Benny wrinkled his nose as he peered inside the cabin, they all reached the ship.

"A treasure mine if I had to say so." Zoey grinned as she helped Bill sit down in the middle of the boat. Sitting next to him, she put her head on Bill's shoulder, earning a surprised look from Bill.

_I hope he doesn't mind_... Zoey wanted to show that she cared for Bill as she always appreciated him for being there for her, despite him trying to hide his emotions behind his gruff character. She didn't really know how to show her appreciation outward, but decided to leave it up to him to figure it out from her gestures.

Bill didn't know what to think as she rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't have much experience with having people that close to him, given he was a grumpy old veteran that no one paid attention to. It was especially surprising that a college girl would be close enough to him to rest her head on his shoulder. It was awkward to him, but he didn't resist, rather enjoying the close gesture from Zoey as he looked at the other three.

_I wonder if they know just how close they are... _Benny noted that down.

He had observed the two since he joined the group, keeping track of how they acted and talked around each other. From what Benny could tell, they were pretty much father and daughter, both of them being very close to each other, more so then the other two, considering that Zoey and Bill seemed to prefer each other's company then talking to the two idiots that always screamed and argued.

As if to prove his point, Benny turned around as he heard a loud yell-

"AHOY!"

Francis jumped on Louis wanting to get Louis back for laughing at him earlier, sending them both head first on the floor of the boat.

"_YOU IDIOT!" _Louis screamed as he tried to squirm away as the biker had fallen right on top of him.

Benny rolled his eyes and checked the boat's motor.

_Gas is at full. Seems like someone planned to escape before us._

"Anyone know how to drive this thing?" Benny asked no one in particular.

"I do. Just help me get off this _heavy bastard_." Louis was still struggling to untangle himself from the biker. He had learned how to drive these kinds of ships from his dad when he was young, often going fishing with him for fun.

"Aw, you know you like being on the bottom."

This comment made Louis flush in embarrassment before he kicked at the biker's stomach.

-_Bang-_

Francis yelped as he was knocked over the boat and into the river, just barely managing to hold on to the edge with his left hand.

"Oh man. You did _NOT_ just get my vest wet." The biker growled in fury as he pulled himself up and braced himself to barrel charge the analyst.

"_ENOUGH!_"

Bill screamed at the top of his lungs. "If I didn't get punched to _oblivion_ by that Tank, I would shoot both of you _right here and now_!"

Zoey raised her head and caught Benny's eye. They both doubled over, laughing hysterically as Francis and Louis both gave each other death glares.

Bill looked at both of the former college students, smiling as he listened to their laughter. Then he remembered his ordeal of not smoking for an hour or so.

"Hey Zoey." Bill turned his head over to the girl still resting her head on his shoulder.

"Mphf?" Zoey raised her head and gave a questioning face at Bill.

"Think you can find a pack of cigs for me in the cabin?"

Just as Zoey was about to get up-

"It's fine, I'll find some." Benny said as he turned to the cabin.

"Better than standing here and listening to these two." Benny added towards Louis and Francis, both scowling at his less-than-amusing joke towards them.

Smirking, Benny walked to the entrance of the cabin, stopping just before entering.

"Wouldn't want you two to miss each other's company, or am I wrong?" Benny shot at Bill and Zoey before quickly ducking into the safety of the room.

Comically, they both gave a start at the same time-

"_WHAT?!"_ They yelled, completely synchronized.

Louis couldn't stop himself from bursting out with peals of laughter as he saw their expressions. Francis himself doubled over, tightly gripping his shotgun as he laughed in his rough voice.

_I SWEAR I'm going to kill him. _Zoey promised herself as she blushed to the roots of her hair. Bill himself was blushing too, although his beard helped hide that quite well.

Both of them didn't say anything as they tried to get their thoughts straight.

Zoey, on one hand, definitely cared for Bill, but didn't know to what extent. _How much do I actually care about Bill_? Zoey thought hard to herself. She loved everything about Bill, the things he taught her that helped her survive for so long, his grim manner as he lead them...even his lectures that annoyed Francis to no end.

Bill, on the other hand, cared about Zoey very much. He enjoyed the college girl's company, feeling light and carefree as she talked about movies or joked around with Louis and Francis. He couldn't see how he would've traveled without her around, with only the two idiots to talk to.

-_Screech-_

The boat came to life as Louis turned it on, shaking them from their thoughts.

"Off we go then. Make sure to hold each other tight now." Louis grinned at Bill and Zoey.

"OH MY GOD. _You guys are SO dead!"_ The brunette gave the analyst the middle finger, Louis chuckling as he steered the boat down the river.

"Jeez, lighten up. A jokes a joke right?" Benny came back out of the cabin and threw Bill a pack of cigarettes he found stashed in a cabinet.

"Find a good insult about Louis and I'll completely accept you into this group." Francis pounded Benny on the back. Smiling, he went to pick up his shotgun and made his way to sit on the front of the boat.

"I think you got that part pretty covered already, Francis." Francis gave a grin at that reply.

Benny decided to sit next to Bill and Zoey-

-_SMACK-_

"OUCH!"

Zoey threw a punch at Benny's arm with all her might.

Benny groaned as he rubbed his arm. "Guess I deserved that one?"

"Tell me about it." Zoey smirked at him, who returned it with one of his own.

"So, I guess we're finally leaving this mess, huh?" Benny looked out at the landscape behind him. "It's strange to think we _won't _hear anymore grunts and moans, I'm not complaining though."

"Yeah. I can't wait to actually _sleep_ for once." Zoey smiled as she moved into a more comfortable position, lifting her head from Bill's shoulder.

"More time for me to smoke." Bill lighting up a cigarette, relaxing as he puffed.

"Better enjoy it. I doubt there's any cigarettes on those islands." Benny grinned as Bill's eyes widened. Bill hadn't thought about that before planning it out.

"Gosh. Bill without a cigarette?" Zoey couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Bill not being able to smoke.

"Shut it. Both of you." The veteran grunted in annoyance at the two teenagers making fun of him.

They both cracked up at his reply, sighing as they regained their breathe.

"It's pretty." Zoey said simply as she looked at the sun setting. The others looked up as well when she commented on it.

The setting sun bathed everything in hues of yellow, orange, and red. It was a sight that the survivors couldn't remember ever seeing after all they've been through. Past the treetops, past the buildings, past everything, the brilliant colors covered the signs of fire and smoke, the constant reminders of the epidemic that had tried to end all humanity. This was it, they were leaving the hell that had tried and tried to crush them. They were leaving behind everything they had known before, leaving their homeland in search of the islands that gave a promise of peace.

Seagulls cawed as they flew above, many taking a rest on any surface they could find, even ones on the sinking ships around them. Beady eyes following the survivors, as if they were testing them, earning a reproving glare from Bill, a known fact that he hated birds. Louis slowly steered around the wreckage, careful to make sure nothing would make a hole into their boat.

Several infected had tried to swim towards them. Their hunger becoming their undoing, as they each received a bullet to the head, while some drowned, lacking the understanding of basic balance. Special infected weren't a problem either, surprising considering how much trouble the group had with them on their journey.

Hunters tried to fly at them, only to earn the solid smack of rifles (in Francis' case, a shotgun), landing in the water instead. Smokers tried to pull the survivors off the boat, but were shot down by Benny with his hunting rifle, whom was keeping a keen eye out for them especially. Even a Tank couldn't do much, throwing large pieces of concrete that ended up crushing its fellow undead rather than hitting the small, agile boat.

Upon seeing the numerous bloated bodies of Boomers floating on the sea (their hollowed bodies probably being beneficial in this case),

Francis proposed something to kill time-

"Let's see who shoots the most." The biker grinned as he cocked his shotgun. "Who's in with me?"

Zoey and Louis looked at each other before they both grinned and replied-

"I'm in."

"No thanks, I'll take over steering, I think I got it." Benny nodded at Louis, who was more than happy to take a break from steering.

Benny turned and winked at Zoey motioning her to come over to him, who gave him a confused look as he handed her his hunting rifle.

"Better range than your pistols." Benny smiled as her eyes widened as she examined the weapon. With its scope, there was no way she would lose, being able to hit a much farther distance than Francis' shotgun or Louis' submachine gun.

"Thanks." She grinned and tested it out on a boomer to the distance. Benny walked over to the steering wheel as a distant _splat_ sound signaled that Zoey hit her mark.

Bill smoked as he saw the contest between the three, knowing full well that Zoey had too much of an advantage with Benny's gun. It ended up with Zoey killing 13, Louis 8, and Francis 2.

Scowling, Francis complained-

"GAH! My shotgun can't reach those boomers!"

"You're the one that wanted to have this contest." Benny raised an eyebrow at the biker as he steered.

Zoey and Louis laughed as Francis glared at the steering teenager.

Francis gave up as he sat down on the ship and groaned.

"Ugh. I don't feel too great."

"Motion sickness?" Benny asked, surprised that the biker was feeling sick.

"Just when I'm on water..."

Feeling sorry for Francis, Benny gave the wheel back to Louis, and walked over to the biker.

"Here."

Benny grabbed Francis' left wrist, ignoring the insults spewing out of the biker's mouth. He pushed the pressure points on Francis' wrist, the ones that suppress the "vomit signals" being sent to brain.

"_WOAH!_ How are you doing that?" Francis was amazed as his feeling of sickness was slowly disappearing.

"I _was _a pre-med major in college, although my dad forced me to learn certain _survival_ military things." Benny sighed as he taught the overeager biker the exact points on the wrist that he had pressed. Bill wasn't surprised, noting the expertly wrapped bandages Benny had done hours ago.

"Haha! Too bad you spent so much time watching flicks with me right?" Zoey laughed out loud as she gave a fond look towards Benny.

"Yeah. With the other two." Benny replied, turning around to glance at the brunette.

"What happened to them? I thought you guys were hanging out before this happened." Zoey asked casually, not noticing the way Benny suddenly stiffened up when she asked that.

From his expression as he turned fully to look at her in the eyes, she could read the answer right off his face.

A deep hollow feeling had suddenly emerged in her. _Chloe? Zack? They all died too?_ Zoey couldn't stop herself as tears began to spring to her eyes. _First I lose my parents, then almost losing Bill, and now my two of my best friends? _Loud sobs rang on the ship as she covered her mouth, trying hard to make it stop, to no avail. She pulled her knees up to her chest as the sobs raked through her body.

_Zack...Chloe..._

Tear drops fell down slowly, falling onto the bottom of the ship, as Zoey recalled how the four of them met.

She had met Chloe in person as they moved into their dorms. Chloe and Zoey had only contacted each other through the phone and online, both of them laughing as they described each other. Zoey was worried that her roommate would dislike her habit of watching movies, especially zombie ones. However, Chloe was just as much of a movie lover as she was, to the great pleasure of Zoey. They had a great time as they scoured for movies to watch, arguing over which seemed better.

They had met up with Benny and Zack at the video store close to the school campus. Chloe and Zoey wanted to watch "_28 Days Later"_, but the store only had one copy, which the two boys had in their hands in the horror aisle. Noting the disappointed looks on both of the girl's faces, Benny proposed that they watch it together, which they all agreed was a great idea. Zack was almost jumping in glee that two chicks were going to watch a movie with them, although he earned punch in the arm when he tried to hug Zoey.

They all had an great time watching it together, deciding to watch more movies together. Zoey didn't mind since they all got close, Zack often making them laugh at his corny jokes.

On the other hand, Zoey developed an interest in Benny. She liked that he was a lot more mature than most of the guys at college, most of them only thinking about getting girlfriends and sex. She would often go and talk to Benny about her troubles in class, both of them laughing as they made fun of certain professors as he helped her out with homework. She liked the way a twinkle went into his brown eyes as he laughed.

It came to her as a disappointment when she found out Chloe had confessed that to Benny. She hid it as she said she was happy for them, turning towards watching more and more movies to hide her disappointment that she didn't tell Benny her feelings about him earlier. Although, she still had a great time with the group, it felt strange seeing her best girl friend with the guy that she liked.

And yet, now knowing that Chloe and Zack had died, Zoey felt childish that she had felt jealous of Chloe and stubbornly decided to go back to her parent's place instead of hanging out with them before the outbreak. She cursed silently at herself as the tears dropped more and more often.

Benny didn't know what to do, besides staring helplessly at the crying figure of the former college girl. Francis and Louis kept silent, knowing full well that nothing they said would be able to ease the pain of losing more loved ones. What could they possibly say to console someone who just learned that both of her best friends had died?

Bill on the other hand, scooted closer to the girl and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She leaned on him as she sobbed. Bill didn't know what to say, not knowing how he would comfort her, "Hey. Come here." He turned sideways on the bottom of the boat, opening up his arms, motioning her to come closer.

Instinctively like a child, Zoey flew into his arms, burying her head onto his shoulder as she let everything loose. Bill winced in pain, but endured it as he closed his arms around her back. Even though Bill felt warm and comforting, Zoey couldn't stop crying and howling in misery.

"Why?! _Why?! Why did they all have to die?!_" Zoey wept as she clutched onto Bill tighter.

Bill didn't say anything, but held on to Zoey gently as he rested his head on hers. His body shook with hers, his grim expression deepening with each shake. He hated to see her like this. His inability to do anything about it only making him feel worse about himself.

Untactfully, He said the line that usually never helped in any sad situation-

"It's going to be okay. It's going to be _okay._"

Zoey pulled away when he said that, her face completely soaked from her tears. "It's going to be _okay?! How could you say that?_" Her hands rolled up in balls as she felt frustration boiling up inside of her."I just lost _everyone_, Bill! My parents, my _friends..._" She began to clench her hands so hard, her knuckles turned white. Tears gushed out as she fell silent, save the shaking as she hugged her knees. "All alone..."

Bill looked at her gravely. He never let on how much he cared for her, hiding his emotions behind his grim mask. It hurt him knowing that she was suffering from so much grief. Bill too had known the pain of losing everyone, as he dealt with it by drinking and smoking. He didn't want Zoey to ever become like him, someone who was bitter at the world for all it had done to him.

"You're _not_ alone. You still have us right?" Bill put his hand on top of her shoulder, rubbing it gently. Zoey looked up to the warm light in Bill's eyes, realizing that she forgot about everyone around her, as she wallowed up in her grief.

"I-I'm sorry." Zoey said shakily as she looked up at everyone around her, realizing that she already had her real family around her.

"Don't worry, we promise that we won't die that easily on ya." Francis grinned as he put his arm around Louis' shoulder.

"Nope, we're all in this together, whether you like it or not." Louis gave a warm-hearted smile at Zoey, pushing the biker's arm off.

"I hope I'm included in that." Benny gave a questioning look towards Zoey, who managed to give a watery smile.

"You hear us right? _No one's_ gonna leave you again, Zoey." Bill gave Zoey one of his rare, genuine smiles. A smile that no one would really think had ever graced the old grizzly veteran's face.

"I guess I was just being _stupid_." Zoey leaned forward and gave Bill another hug. This time with her head besides his, feeling his bristly beard poking at her smooth cheek. Bill paused for a moment, but hugged her back, enjoying the close embrace. Bill felt a warm glow in his body, taking pleasure in the fact that he consoled the former college girl.

"Thanks for being there for me." Zoey eventually said, making Bill surprised. "I think I would've gone _crazy_ without you."

"Don't worry kid, we all woulda gone crazy without someone like you. I mean I probably woulda killed Francis by now." Bill gently stroked her hair as he smirked at the biker.

"Love you too, old man." Francis said with contempt.

The tears stopped flowing, as she looked at her family. She smiled as they all laughed together. There was a warm glow in her, Zoey knowing that she loved each and every one of them.

Zoey wanted to stay there, holding on to Bill, but pulled away when he grunted in pain, her weight finally getting to his injuries.

"Oh no. _Sorry!_" Zoey apologized as she wiped her face with her jacket sleeves.

"No worries, my leg hurts me more than that." Bill tapped his bad leg as he pointed it out to Zoey.

She couldn't help but smile as she stood up. Zoey looked out at the dark sky, the moon shining brightly as it reflected off the waves of the ocean.

"Hey Bill."

The veteran looked up at Zoey, with his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." She said simply.

These two simple words were all it took for Bill to flush with pleasure.

"Anytime kiddo." Was his response.

Francis and Louis exchanged glances, both knowing what was on their minds. A loud scuffle was heard as they both charged for the cabin, both intent on reaching it first. The other three ignored the sounds of wrestling, not bothering to see who would win.

Benny had sat onto the side of the two, hearing every word between them. He, at least, could tell what was going on between them, but decided not to comment on it for the time being. He didn't want to ruin the mood, but-

"I think it's time to hit the hay."

Bill looked over at the others, noting how exhausted each and every one of them were.

"Good idea. I'll keep watch." Bill went to reach for his assault rifle, but a hand blocked his way.

"No. I'll keep watch." Benny said firmly as he picked up his hunting rifle. Seeing the veteran about to protest-

"You're gonna need to rest. Wouldn't want to make those ribs take longer to heal would you?" Benny said kindly as he patted the veteran's arm.

Bill conceded, knowing that he was right. He clumsily lay down on the bottom of the boat.

"Here, I can watch with you." Zoey walked over to Benny, feeling embarrassed that she made such a big scene just moments ago.

"You sure? I mean we're not gonna all jump ship and leave you now that we promised." Benny's joke earning him another punch on the arm.

"_OW! _Why the same spot?!" He winced as he knew there was going to be a bruise there. He turned around and was about to take a step-

_Wha-! _

Benny almost jumped in shock as Zoey unexpectedly put her arms around him and hugged him. He didn't movea muscle as Zoey embraced him, unsure of what to do in this kind of situation.

"I'm glad that you made it back at least." Zoey mumbled, a little bit muffled since her face was pushed into his shirt. She was glad that he was alive at least, it would have been unbearable if she learned all her best friends she knew in college had died...and since she did still have feelings towards Benny.

Benny chuckled as he unfroze and returned the hug.

"It takes more than an apocalypse to stop the _Zombie Flick Crew_, right?"

His response made Zoey pull away from him and groan-

"I _hated _that name. Did you have to bring it up again?"

This was the name given to their group by other students at college due to them always spending all their spare time watching zombie films together.

A loud snort signaled that Bill hadn't fallen asleep yet. Both smirking at each other, they sat side by side, watching the waves slowly tumble up and down. One having his arm wrapped around the other's shoulder.

Author's Note: Hey guys! What did you think about this chapter? Cookies to whoever reviews/comments! :D


	8. The Island Keys

Pairings: I may pair characters later in the story. Keep your eyes open! ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Wow! On chapter 8 already, I hope you guys enjoyed the story so far. Please, tell me what you guys think I should improve on or what you guys have currently liked so far. Enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review!

Chapter 8

The Island Keys

_-Swish-_

A bigger than usual wave hit the side of the boat, making it rock a little more than usual.

"_Mmphf?"_ Zoey opened her eyes sleepily as she yawned. She was on her side, her head resting comfortably on something soft. She turned around a bit, feeling a little seasick-

_Oh!_

Zoey literally snapped awake, almost jumping in shock, as she saw that the soft spot she fell asleep on was Benny's lap.

"Morning." Benny's eyes twinkled in amusement as he heard Zoey stammer-

"So-sorry about that." Zoey felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She couldn't believe that she had actually fallen asleep on his lap.

"You were so tired that you almost dropped to the floor!" Benny chuckled as he recalled Zoey dozing off next to him. She had almost hit her head on the deck of the ship before Benny caught her with his arm, steadying her onto her feet.

"The bottom of the ship didn't look too comfortable, so I thought you wouldn't mind if I let you sleep on my lap." Benny said unconcernedly as he shifted his legs into a more relaxing position.

"Thanks, I guess." Zoey smiled awkwardly, as Benny yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Wait! You actually kept watch the _whole_ time?!" She exclaimed, realizing that Benny hadn't woken anyone up to take over his watch.

"You guys seemed so tired..." Benny shrugged as he smiled at the brunette. "And I didn't really _want_ to wake any of you up..."

_Your sleeping face seemed so peaceful..._Benny added in his head, deciding not to say anything about that to Zoey, as it probably would've made her feel too embarrassed if he said he liked the way she tightly closed her eyes or the way her lips puckered out a little as she slept.

Zoey couldn't deny that all four of them hadn't had much sleep since the incident with the military base, but she didn't think that it was right for Benny to keep watch over them the whole time while they were snoozing their asses off.

"Hmph. Next time, I'll take over your watch." She promised as she sat down next to Benny and gave him a playful punch to his arm.

"I'll take your word for it." Benny yawned again, shaking himself to stay awake. "Although, my watch was only for a few hours. Look. It's almost dawn."

Benny pointed at the sky around them. Zoey looked up and realized that he was right, the sun was poking its head out from the thick clouds blocking its way. It was beautiful, a deep orange yellow as it soaked the ship in warm rays of light.

Benny couldn't help but look at Zoey as the sun glowed on her. Her hair seemed to shine, a brighter brown, and her brilliant green eyes reflected the bright orb in front of them. With three guys around her, he was surprised no one seemed to notice how pretty she was.

_I guess there wasn't time to_. Benny smiled as he turned to face the dazzling sun.

_This feels great. _Zoey breathed in deeply, taking in the salty smell of the ocean, as she felt warmth spread throughout her body, as the sun basked her in its light.

It was a long time since any of them had the time to actually enjoy the sun, the reason being that they mostly traveled during the night to avoid scuffles with Infected as they made their way throughout their journey.

The three of them: Zoey, Louis, and Francis, had argued with the grizzly veteran (who was still lightly snoring on the bottom of his bunk) in the beginning of their journey over that.

Zoey smiled to herself as she remembered the incident.

_"NO! NO! NO!" _The old war veteran had yelled as the other three complained about staying inside the safe house while it was day.

_"You think those things ever rest?! You guys must be damn stupid if you think they can't see us moving in broad daylight! At least at night those things can't see us that well!"_

Bill spat out, the three of them conceding to his brand of argument, each whom had a different way of taking in the plan.

Francis had only grumbled in annoyance as he moved himself off to a corner of the room to check up on his shotgun. Louis had agreed and ran off to the bathroom, hoping that Bill wouldn't yell again. Zoey, however, sat down next to Bill, hoping that the veteran wasn't angry with them.

"Yeah?" Bill raised his eyebrow at the teenager as she sat down close to him.

"Sorry for arguing about that." Zoey apologized, hugging her knees as she looked up at Bill's bright blue eyes.

"I guess I didn't want to travel in the dark, not knowing when those things could grab me and rip me apart." Zoey began to shake a little at the thought of the bloody claws ripping into her body.

Bill studied Zoey as she shook. _She's still a kid. _Bill sighed as he puffed on his cigarette.

"It's fine kid." Bill reached over and put his arm around her shoulder. Zoey was surprised by the sudden embrace, but she shuffled closer until she felt the warmth from Bill's body on her side.

"That's what we're here for, right?" Bill hoped that she would feel better if he consoled her.

"I guess that's right.." Zoey felt a bit calmer as she smiled at the old man.

_He does have a soft side then. _

She leaned a bit more on Bill, a feeling of safety with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Bill didn't say anything as the teenager leaned on him, he rather enjoyed having her close to him.

"Zoey? _Zoey_, you still with me?"

Benny's voice shook Zoey out of her recollection.

"Wha..What?" Zoey stuttered as she looked at Benny.

"You zoned out there for a moment. I thought something was wrong with you."

Benny looked worried as he said that, his eyebrows all scrunched up.

"It was nothing. Just me and my daydreaming." Zoey sighed as she looked back up at the glowing sun.

The two of them fell silent as they sat down next to each other.

Seagulls still flew above them, shrilly cawing as they scanned the never-ending sheet of water below them for fish.

_I hope there's no Infected on the island we land on. _

Benny stared at the numerous waves in front of them, the never ending sea gave a hollow feeling to him as he slowly steered the boat in a straight direction.

_Does Bill really think there isn't going to be people there, where everywhere we land? _

Benny looked over to the old veteran, who was still asleep on his back.

_Ok. Worst-case scenario. We end up in a place overrun with more zombies. I guess we should be fine as long as we have each other. _

Benny frowned as he tried to get rid of the growing doubt inside of him.

_But could there be something waiting for us, wherever we land? Our luck hasn't ever been that great, although we did make it this far..._

Deciding to talk to Bill later about that, Benny got up and walked to the cabin. Zoey didn't comment, but raised an eyebrow as she watched him go in.

Loud snores filled the interior of the room as Benny searched for some food. He was surprised anyone could handle the racket Francis made when he opened his mouth and gave the impression that he was roaring, that was how loud it was. Louis lay face-down on the small table, while Francis seemed to take comfort in the packed floor.

Benny clucked his tongue in annoyance, as the path towards the supplies were pretty much blocked by both of the men. Seeing no way to get through, Benny chose the simplest and most time-efficient way to get to the back of the room-

He walked over Francis. It was hard considering that the biker was pretty big and the fact that he moved and turned around a lot didn't help as Benny tried to avoid stepping on him.

_This is SO stupid! _Benny thought in exasperation as he tried to get over Francis, who had yet again turned.

_OH THAT'S IT!_

Without another thought, Benny stepped on the biker's torso and grabbed a few cans of food randomly and stormed out before Francis woke up.

"Wha-Whut?..." The biker had semi-woken up from the weight of Benny. He grumbled as he saw Louis sleeping on the table. He didn't hear any commotion outside, so the biker turned around and fell asleep instantly.

Benny scuffled back out to the bright light outside the cabin. Zoey noticed the way he panted for breath as he held the cans in front of him.

"What happened? Francis tried to jump you?" Zoey grinned as Benny walked over to her.

"More like I had to step on him to get to the food. There was _no way_ I was touching him as he slept..." Benny rolled his eyes as he looked down to see what he had grabbed.

"Two cans of peanut butter, one canned tuna, and..._pickles_?...Ugh..." Benny couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the sight of their breakfast.

"Oh _hey_! Peanut butter!" Zoey grabbed one of the cans out of Benny's armload, savoring the taste of the brown, nutty substance as she dipped her thumb into the can and back onto her mouth.

"Still love the peanut butter, huh?" Benny smiled as he put down the other cans next to them. He remembered that her favorite thing for a snack was a peanut butter sandwich back in college.

"Oh you betcha." Zoey grinned at him through peanut butter smeared teeth.

_Oh oops. _She quickly covered her mouth as she felt heat rise up to her cheeks. _I hope he didn't think that was revolting. _

She forgot that she only did that in front of the other three, as they didn't really mind it.

Benny burst out laughing at her, making her forget that thought as she laughed with him. It was as if he had read her mind as he said-

"Trust me, there's _a lot_ of things worse than peanut butter stuck to someone's teeth."

Almost as if to prove his point, he dipped his own finger into the jar and smeared it onto his teeth and grinned at her. She cracked up even harder at the sight of that, feeling ridiculous for being worried over something so little.

Their laughter woke up Bill, as he grumbled awake.

They both stopped laughing, looking at the figure of the old veteran in amusement as he tried to rise up, to no avail.

"Here. Lemme help you up!" Zoey walked over to Bill and grabbed his arm.

"Oh, my _ribs_..." Bill groaned painfully as he slowly got into a sitting position.

"Here, Bill. Breakfast." Benny rolled the can of pickles towards Bill, curious to see if the veteran would eat it.

The veteran barely looked at the can before opening it and starting to munch on one of them. Both of the teenagers looked at each other and back at him, not wanting to say how revolting it was to eat slimy pickles first thing in the morning.

"What? It's better than army food." Bill said rather nonchalantly as he looked at the two teenagers.

"We land yet?" Bill looked to the far distance with his eyes squinted from the sunlight.

"Nope." Zoey said thickly as she helped herself to more peanut butter.

"Actually, I think I _do_ see land." Benny squinted his eyes to look in the distance, seeing something to the north of them.

"Better wake the other two then. Should get ready to see what's on that island." Bill nodded at Benny, who walked back to the cabin.

"Did you sleep well?" Bill noticed that Zoey looked better than she did in weeks. Although, he was still worried that she was feeling down from what happened last night.

"Yep." Zoey didn't want to mention about how she had fell asleep on Benny's lap nor the fact that she had broken down in tears in front of the whole group. She busied herself with eating the peanut butter, hoping Bill wouldn't mention anything about it.

Bill looked at her, deciding that it would be best to talk to her later, as he put his attention on eating.

Loud grumbles and complaints coming from the cabin signaled that Louis and Francis woke up, as Benny walked back towards the two.

The two of them were a mess, all covered in sweat, as they walked out and flinched at the sudden light outside.

"I _hate _the sun." Francis complained as he plopped down next to Benny and grabbed the other can of peanut butter.

"What _don't _you hate?" Bill asked the biker with his eyebrow raised.

"Guns and hot chicks." The biker grinned in reply as he stuffed his face with peanut butter.

"That's disgusting." The analyst gave a disgusted look towards Francis, as Benny offered Louis the can of tuna.

Louis accepted the can from Benny with a word of thanks.

"A guy's gotta eat. And besides, I can just clean up right here."

The biker pointed with a thick peanut butter-covered finger to the endless expanse of water around them.

"He _does_ have a point." Zoey grinned as she poked at the waves splashing next to them, feeling the cool and salty touch of the sea.

"Hurry up and finish eating, we're gonna land soon." Bill grumbled, setting down the can of pickles next to him.

Bill looked over at the looming figure of land as they got closer and closer.

_I hope this is our final stop. _He thought grimly, recounting the endless times that they would believe that they would be safe, only to have that belief crushed over and over again.

Benny looked over at the old veteran, studying his grim expression, knowing that Bill was probably feeling doubtful about his own plan. The group's atmosphere seemed pretty tense, as everyone seemed to find the prospect of stepping on an unknown island to not have Infected, pretty unlikely.

Feeling that the group needed a morale booster-

"So what should we call our island?"

Everyone all looked at Benny as he chuckled rather awkwardly at all the attention.

"We..well I just thought that if we made this island our home, we should name it. As cheesy as that sounds."

Benny felt the heat rising up to him as he said that. "I mean, just an idea."

Zoey broke out laughing, grabbing her sides as she rocked back and forth, shaking with laughter. Louis couldn't help himself either as he joined in; Francis joined in with his rough laughter as well. Bill couldn't help but smile at the infectious laughter that crowded the air.

"_Naming _theisland?! That's a good one." Zoey covered her mouth as tears began to spring from her eyes from all the laughter.

"That might be hard." The analyst put a hand on his forehead as he pondered for a name.

"I'll leave that to you guys. Thinking isn't my game." Francis didn't like thinking about things that much. It was so much more simple to shoot, hit, and run, something he had done his whole life.

"I don't care about that." Bill didn't feel that it mattered what they named it, just as long as the island was safe for them to settle down in. He left the others to bicker over the names as he took his time to light up a cigarette.

The journey seemed like a breeze after that. The group arguing over names, while the water slowly changed color from a dark blue to a lighter, teal color. The ship finally reached the shore of the island's sandy beach.

Tall coconut trees grew on the beach, laden with fruit on its head. Almost like a postcard where one would see someone sunbathing on a beach, a coconut tree next to them, as they sipped leisurely on some fruity drink. However, those times were long lost, as the group of survivors studied the landscape of the island.

From their view point, the island was definitely a big one, bigger than they thought it would be. Tall trees blocked their view, a thick wall of green that they couldn't see through. However, there was no sound besides the wind swishing past the trees and the gentle sound of the waves hitting the beach.

Abandoned, there were remains of what seemed to be beach houses. Planks littered the beach as sand half covered more or less of the debris. A lonely jetty was seen off to the distance to the right, no one having walked on it for months. The emptiness in this place was eerie, almost as if something had wiped the island clean.

"Isn't it a little _too_ quiet?" Louis questioned the others nervously. "Not that I _miss_ the sounds of groaning and moaning..."

Zoey only managed to nod, butterflies beginning to blossom in her stomach as she looked at the land in front of her.

"So what's the plan, oldie?" Francis gave a questioning look at their leader.

"Some of us should go ahead and see what's up, while the others keep an eye on the boat and our supplies." Was the grizzly veteran's reply.

"Ok, so whose gonna go?" Benny asked everyone around him.

"I for sure, ain't gonna wait on my ass." Francis grinned as he jumped onto the sand with a muffled -_thump-_

"I better go with you, make sure you don't get yourself into any stupid shit." Louis eyed Francis with annoyance as he jumped down too.

"Aw. I knew you loved me." The biker wrapped his arm around the analyst.

"You wish I did." Louis sounded revolted, pushing the biker's arm off as if it was part of the Infection.

"I'll g-" Bill was about to climb down before being cut off by Benny-

"Nu-uh. Going into an unknown forest isn't the job for a grumpy, old, injured person like yourself." Benny grinned as Bill glared at him.

"I guess I'll go then." Zoey jumped nimbly onto the sand.

"I'll watch over the ship and babysit Bill then." Benny's joke making the veteran grumble in annoyance.

"Oh. And don't forget your packs." Benny threw each of them a small pack, containing some food and water.

"Meet back in an hour or two. Alright?" Bill said gravely. "Don't do anything that could kill yourselves."

"Don't worry about it." The biker began to stomp away, Louis following suit.

Zoey turned back to look at Bill and Benny, with a worried look on her face.

"Yo...you guys will be fine right?"

Zoey didn't want anything to happen to either of them. She was worried because Bill's ribs were still on the way to recovery and that it would be hard for Benny to take care of himself and Bill. She didn't want to think of what would happen if the two of them got hurt.

"A rib injury won't stop me from shooting a gun." Bill said with a tinge of annoyance. He wasn't one to rely on others to protect him.

"Yeah. Even though he's old, he's ex-military. Tougher than nails." Bill felt a small flush of pleasure at the praise.

"Alright. You guys better be here when we get back."

Zoey ran off to catch up with the distant biker and analyst, although she still felt somewhat doubtful about leaving the two alone.

Bill sat down on the edge of the ship, puffing on his cigarette as he stared off into the distance. Benny went back and grabbed his hunting rifle, deciding to keep watch for a while as he sat on another side of the ship.

The two of them sat in silence, one wrapped in his thoughts, the other intent on keeping an eye out for both of them. A lot of time passed, with only the sound of waves and wind, before one of them broke the silence-

"How did they die?" The air felt tense as the words were released, almost as if the words had contained some sort of power.

Bill turned around to look at Benny. The teenager stiffened, knuckles white as he gripped his rifle tightly. He didn't turn around to look at Bill, but stood up rather shakily. Benny slowly turned to look at the veteran in the face. Bill couldn't help but notice that Benny's arms were shaking, his eyes full of pain and grief.

"I..I don't want to remember their faces..."

Benny shook as he tried to shake the memories of that night off his mind, the same memories that clung and haunted him in his dreams as he had followed the group of four. The night that Chloe and Zack died in front of him...

"I'm sorry, I didn't think..." Bill was bewildered at Benny's reaction to his question. The veteran stood up and reached over to pat his arm.

"Every time I close my eyes, I can see it. I try to hide it from you guys with my smile and jokes...but I can't get rid of it. I can't get rid of their faces!"

Bill didn't know what to say, as he squeezed the teenager's shoulder. He hadn't thought that his question would make Benny close to breaking down. Benny shook his head violently, trying to stop himself from thinking about it-

Something set off.

The gut feeling that Benny had in that moment couldn't be explained that easily. It was as if the months of being alert for fighting had given him an alarm clock for when something was about to happen. That feeling toned by the fear of death and the fight for survival made Benny throw himself at Bill, the veteran yelping in surprise and pain his assault rifle flying off to another side, both of them landing on the bottom of the ship.

-_whistle-_

The sounds of bullets rushed past, right at the spot where they were milliseconds ago.

Winded, Benny quickly regained his senses, focusing on where the attack came from.

Bill groaned in pain, Benny having put his weight on him as he pushed them down. He tried to sit up, wincing at the pain from his broken ribs, but only managing to do so from grabbing the side of the ship.

-_bang- _ -_bang-_

Benny narrowed his eyes as he shot towards a figure that tried to hide himself in a bush to the left. Too poorly concealed, as Benny heard a loud scream of pain as he hit his mark.

_Was that it? _

Benny ran over to check up on Bill, still gripping onto the side of the ship tightly, panting with the effort to ignore the growing pain in his ribs.

"Here! Some pain pills." Benny scrounged up a bottle from his pack next to him.

"Thanks." The veteran replied gruffly.

Bill popped open the bottle and swallowed some down, looking back at the worried eyes of the teenager, before noticing-

"Watch out!"

_Huh? _Benny looked at the veteran in confusion before...

Bill tried to warn Benny. He hadn't noticed the looming figure that snuck up behind both of them, and Benny hadn't either-

-_crack-_

A sharp pain searing on the back of his head, the last thing Benny heard was Bill's scream of anguish before hitting the cold floor of the ship.

"Noooo!"

Author's note: So how did you guys like this chapter? The next chapter might be a bit dark, so watch out! Don't forget to comment/review!


	9. A Sharp Turn

Pairings: I may pair characters later in the story. Keep your eyes open! ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign)

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Hey guys! Chapter 9 up and running for ya'll. Please don't forget to comment/review as all opinions and views are beneficial in helping me learn to write better!

On with the show!

Chapter 9

A Sharp Turn

-_clump-_

The assailant had hit the back of Benny's head with a pistol, knocking him out cold, the rifle clattering out of the teenager's hand as he fell to the floor of the boat.

"Hehe...Yeh _betta _not move or dis boy of yers is _dead_."

Bill froze as he looked at the stranger. With mossy teeth and unkempt hair and clothes, it was a wonder how much he looked like a pirate, save the talking parrot, wooden legs, so on and so forth. He held a pistol in his greasy, dirty hand pointing it at the still figure of Benny as he threatened Bill.

_Damn it. What should I do?_

Bill glanced around, thinking quickly, looking to see what his options were. His assault rifle was knocked a few feet away, out of his hands, when Benny threw himself onto him.

_SHIT!_

Bill could try to reach for Benny's rifle, but the second he would moved the greasy bastard would shoot Benny, no doubt killing him. His battle-trained mind at work, Bill tried to size up the pirate, to see if there were any weak points he could exploit. The pirate barely reached Bill's height and was probably weighed more than twice his weight judging from the rather bloated belly straining on the pirate's belt. No doubt that the pirate had slow movements and bad reflexes if he had to sneak up on them, but he still had the advantage of a hostage, something that Bill had to take account for.

Perhaps he could reach for the pistols on his legs, but there was no way he could make it in time before the pirate would shoot at him or Benny.

The stranger noticed Bill glancing at the pistols-

"Throw 'em on the ground or else he dies."

The pirate gave a grin at the old veteran, knowing that he couldn't do anything unless he wanted the teenager dead. A grin that stretched the pirate's oily mouth open showcasing his yellow teeth, rimmed with black lines of decay, filled with numerous holes and chunks. The pirate was wearing a rotting black leather jacket, something that bikers would wear. His pants were equally unkempt, jeans that had so much holes and tears in it that he seemed to be wearing threads instead of actual pants.

Surmounting all of these points, the pirate's demanding and cocky attitude was the worst. These were the kinds of people that Bill couldn't stand, he could tolerate Francis after traveling with him for so long. But when it came down to it, Bill wanted to shoot anyone who crossed with him like that. And yet-

Bill clenched his teeth in frustration, almost cleaving the cigarette in his mouth in two as he threw down his pistols. To think that they would come so far to be held up by some cowardly greenhorn that snuck up to force them at gunpoint. Bill had noticed the way the pirate held his pistol, one hand was on the grip, finger at the trigger, but the other hand was cupping it under the base of the grip like a teacup saucer, something a complete newbie would do.

He glanced back down at Benny, a mounting feeling of worry as he saw that Benny's head was bleeding. His mind was racing, trying to figure out a strategy for this mess, something that he had to practice for months during their journey. Something clicked in his mind, an idea that suddenly presented itself to the veteran.

If fighting wasn't the option this time, then the next best thing was to act. As much as Bill hated the jokes, mostly from Francis, about him being too old, his age could be used to take advantage in this situation.

"Wha-What do you want?"

Bill tried to act scared, with a horrified expression on his face, his arms shaking as he raised them into the air. It seemed to work as the pirate gave a smug look, thinking that he had found easy prey.

"Walk up to 'em."

Bill walked to Benny, making sure to act like he was a cowardly old man who couldn't stand the sight of a gun pointed at him with shaky and slow movements. He stopped when he was a few inches away from Benny's body.

The stranger paused, as if thinking,

"And here's to killin' me partner,"

He added before aiming a full powered kick at Benny's stomach. Even unconscious, Benny audibly groaned in pain as he rolled a few inches towards Bill hitting his shoes, the latter roared-

"_STOP IT! What do you get by kicking someone whose already down?!_"

Bill felt a familiar torrent of rage, a rage not unlike the times where Zoey was close to being swarmed by Infected and Bill would run over to tear them away from her.

_This bastard! This FUCKING bastard!_

He didn't realize that he had felt the same way towards Benny as he did with Zoey. It seemed that both teenagers had carved a certain spot in the veteran's heart, a spot that he had never knew existed. For one, Bill felt the need to protect them as any parent would for their children, and he also knew that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he had let them die in front of him. He had to get the two of them out of this situation before it got any worse, even if it meant him throwing himself in dangers way to turn the tables on the pirate.

The stranger, perhaps sensing the anger building up in the grizzly veteran, looked a little bit scared, but pointed his gun more firmly at the two.

"Either ya do what I say or one of you dies."

Bill didn't see any other option besides following what the stranger said. He could try to pick up the guns on the floor, but there wasn't any time to do so without the stranger noticing and retaliating. He reluctantly backed down, as he did still have to keep up the act.

Seeing Bill back down, the stranger ordered-

"Pick him up and follo' me."

"What? You must be joking."

Bill didn't see how he would be able to pick Benny up and be able to get off the boat. As much of an idiot as he looked, the pirate definitely didn't know how hard it was to carry an unconscious person, and maneuver it over and out a boat...

As such, the pirate came up with a simple, yet cruel situation.

"Throw 'em over."

Bill was going to retort at that kind of plan, but he stopped when he saw the pistol.

He crouched down slowly, gently pulling Benny up by the armpits, wincing in pain a bit from his broken ribs. Benny wasn't heavy, a good thing because Bill couldn't lift a lot of weight without hurting himself. The veteran quickly inspected the wound on the back of Benny's head, cursing as he saw that it was still bleeding. He pulled Benny over the boat, trying to make him land softly, but there was a thumping sound when Benny dropped down onto the sand.

"Git ahead of me. Walk wher I tell ya to. And pick him up."

Bill carefully got off the boat and walked over to Benny. It was a good thing Bill had learned how to carry fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War, albeit them being unconscious or not.

Swiftly, the veteran raised Benny into a standing position by grabbing his armpits, a hard task when the teenager was knocked out and with Bill's ribs broken. He lifted with his legs to make sure that no pressure was put onto his ribs as he shifted his leg to reach between Benny's legs. He draped Benny's hand over his shoulder, wrapped his arm around Benny's knee and prepared to squat down.

_Goddamn this injury._

Bill's ribs were growing more and more painful as he exerted himself, but he had to endure the pain or else one of them would get shot. With an overwhelming effort, Bill squatted and positioned Benny's body on his shoulders. He gave a sigh of relief as the pressure on his ribs released, standing up as he carefully balanced Benny on him. A thought came to him as he turned back to the stranger who ordered-

"Move. Go".

_Damn it. Those three better be ok._

Bill took note of the fading footprints of his other three comrades, leading into the right side of the thick cluster of trees. However, the stranger directed him to move to the left side, much to Bill's displeasure.

The veteran took care to tread harder on the sand, leaving a deeper imprint on the sand, hoping that one of his comrades would notice the trail when they found that the other two were gone. The stranger didn't notice, paying too much attention at Bill while ordering him where to move. But the most important detail that he didn't notice was the combat knife still hidden in Bill's right boot.

_Zoey, Francis, Louis. Hurry..._

Bill looked towards the approaching jungle as he walked, taking note of anything he might be able to use to his advantage in case the pirate let down his guard. There was plenty of cover for Bill to use as a shield through the trees. All he had to do was grab his knife and overpower the pirate, which shouldn't be too hard considering that Bill was a combat expert and the pirate didn't have the veteran's years of battle experience.

Of course, it came with the problem of Benny and the fact that he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, and would just be dead weight to Bill if he wanted to kill the pirate. Bill thought deeply as they walked to the darkening jungle, trying to form a plan.

They continued to walk, the sun setting behind them, leaving a brilliant dark orange glow over the horizon. The water twinkling peacefully, oblivious to what was happening around it, as it softly crashed on the beach and boat. The boat rested alone on the sand, almost appearing to be lonely as it faced towards the thick jungle, as if waiting for someone to come back to it. It almost seemed as if the boat was staring at the backs of the pirate and Bill as they entered the jungle, almost as if it had swallowed them as the shadow engulfed them.

-A while ago-

Deeper in the jungle, Louis, Francis and Zoey walked in a straight direction while scanning around to see if anything was there. The jungle was filled with trees, bugs, and more trees. Nothing seemed to be there besides them, making it seem pointless to have walked for at least half an hour straight into the jungle. But they ventured on, despite their doubts.

Francis grunted in annoyance as a mosquito flew at his face, trying to go for his ears. Another mosquito flew at his arms, intent on reaching under them. Screaming-

"_I HATE THESE LITTLE FUCKERS!"_

It was one thing to go for his ears, but trying to go for his arms was completely different. There was no way the biker would let those bugs get close to his vest, _no way. _

Louis chuckled as he saw how ticked off Francis was. He, himself, wasn't really bothered with the mosquito's as they seemed to prefer the biker more than him or Zoey.

"Must be the smell of your Old Spice aftershave, Francis."

-_smack-_

Louis' joke earned him a heavy blow on his arm by Francis swinging his shotgun at him.

"_OW!_ _DUDE!_ WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!"

"Not in the mood for your corny jokes."

The biker growled at the analyst. It was one thing for those dumb mosquito's to bite the living hell out of him, but there was no way he was going to deal with them _and_ Louis at the same time.

The pain from the blow was sufficient enough to shut Louis from retorting, but he still gave a look of pure venom at Francis.

Zoey, on the other hand, stayed silent as she walked behind the idiot duo, not really paying attention to whatever they were babbling about, her mind was set on something else.

Louis turned to glance at her, wondering why the usually talkative girl was so silent-

"Hey Zoey, what's wrong?"

"Huh? What?"

The teenager snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at the analyst.

"What's on your mind?"

Zoey wasn't one to speak about her anxieties, she didn't want anyone to think she worried too much. But this time, the doubt was gnawing at her as she thought more and more about whether or not she should've left Bill and Benny to fend for themselves. She bit her lip as she studied Louis. Kind-hearted and open, Louis had always treated her as a good friend, having always sharing a joke or laugh with Zoey. Zoey decided to tell him-

"I'm worried about the other two..."

Louis knew that something was chewing at her. Deciding to comfort her, he walked back a bit and patted her back-

"C'mon, there's no reason to worry about them, we've been through a lot and I can say that Bill is _the _best shooter ever, and Benny isn't a bad shot himself. And besides we should be able to trust that they could hold their own ground."

Zoey nodded, conceding to his point, but still feeling a bit worried. She covered it up with a smile and thanked the analyst, walking ahead as she followed Francis.

_She's worried about them still. _

The analyst sighed as he turned back and glanced around them. So far, they had walked about a half-hour without any progress.

All they saw were trees, trees, and even more trees. Of course, there were plenty of buzzing insects, more than they could account for as well as dozens of birds flying about, but these details weren't important to them. After traveling for months with only the Infected as their company, they didn't take onto the idea of sitting there and enjoying nature that well. The jungle was unbelievably hot and humid, making Louis sweat and his shirt stick to his skin.

It didn't seem that there was anyone living on this island, there were no signs of any past occupation, no wooden houses, no tents, nothing. It really did seem as if the island was uninhabited, but they still wanted to make sure.

Louis didn't feel that comfortable in the expanse of the seemingly endless jungle, he much preferred being in the city, although it wasn't better considering that it was swarmed with Infected. It wasn't as if the tall man hadn't had any experience being in the wild, he had gone on many hiking trips and whatnot when he had the chance to escape from the vastly boring and strenuous life he held before the Infection.

_What I would do to have it all back..._

And yet, he would do anything to get it all back, anything was better than having to go through the hell they had to get through to reach their "_safe haven_". Louis cursed under his breath, as he almost tripped on a random root of a tree. Soft hands grabbed his shoulder before he did, he thankfully looked back at the teenager as she gave him a small smile before going back to follow the biker. Louis quickly followed them, taking more caution of where he was walking.

_Maybe..._

But he probably wouldn't have met Zoey, Bill, or even Francis for that matter if the Infection hadn't happened. The three were more of a family to him then even compared to his own family, wherever they were. They all shed blood, tears, and sweat together, watching each other's back, to protect their own.

Zoey reminded him of his little sister, always there to brighten up the group's mood, albeit her always being a worry-wart, much like his own younger sister. Francis was his best friend, well at least that was what Louis thought. He might argue a lot with the biker, but they were probably the closest friends out of the whole group even if Francis acted like an asshole all the time. Bill was their leader, no doubt about that, but Louis found Bill to be a mentor, someone who would listen to their troubles and would know how to deal with it, despite the blunt way Bill would go about it.

Traveling back then, Louis would have said that there was no way they could have stayed in the same group. Francis always calling Bill out for his age, Bill hating Francis for his guts, and Zoey acting too much of a goofball. Louis, himself, was reminded constantly that he was too light-hearted and kind, something he couldn't change in his personality. And despite all there arguments and falling-outs, they all stuck together and fought their way past the Infected. They found a family in each other, something Louis would've never thought possible in such a ragtag group of people.

Then came the newcomer to their group, Benny. Louis didn't mind having him join the group, after all, Benny had proven himself to be a reliable and capable shooter when he saved Francis. From what the analyst could tell, Benny was very much like Zoey in many senses. Both teenagers had the same excited air around them, being able to crack jokes at any time. And yet they also seemed to share a painful past that they carried deep down, hidden beneath the smiles they put out towards the group.

Louis knew that something had happened to Benny, something that the teenager didn't want to tell anyone else...Though he had just met Benny, he could still tell from the way Benny would gaze off to the distance with a sad expression.

It was the exact same thing with Zoey when Louis had just met her. She was just the typical girl-next-door teenager that was dropped into this hell. She held the exact same expression that Benny wore when she thought no one was watching her. She never told the analyst much about her past, nothing about her life before the shit storm landed on their collective heads.

Louis couldn't help but feel a small mix of curiosity as well as hurt while he studied the brunette as she carefully walked around a deep patch of wet mud on the track. He knew that Zoey was someone that didn't trust others that easily, a trait similar to Bill. That trait also seemed to reside in Benny as well, owing to the fact that he didn't seem that comfortable being around him or Francis, preferring to stick to Bill and Zoey. Zoey knew that he was there for her, but her tightly guarded personality prevented her from revealing her true emotions to anyone besides the one she was closest to.

It hurt Louis that she didn't really want to talk to him about her problems, despite them being very close friends. Yet it was shock to him when Zoey had completely broken down in front of them when Benny revealed that two of Zoey's closest friends had died. He didn't know what to do but stand there completely frozen, while only Bill seemed to be able to comfort her.

"_ARGH!"_

The roar shook Louis out of his thoughts as he looked to see Francis wildly slapping the air around him, no doubt another mosquito whizzing around him. The analyst grumbled to himself as he scanned around him, still seeing nothing but endless waves of green as usual. He would talk to Zoey or Benny later, wanting to know what was going on with their heads.

The roar didn't stir Zoey at all, the former college girl deep in her thoughts as she walked.

_Maybe I shouldn't have left them alone..._

She was worried, she couldn't help it. No matter how much the group teased her about being too prone to worrying about others, she couldn't get rid of such a fundamental part of her personality.

_No...They should be alright by themselves..._

Zoey had said that to herself dozens of times, trying to convince herself that nothing would happen to Bill or Benny. Trying to displace the worm of doubt and worry that was gnawing at her insides, poking deeper and deeper, it only made her more and more worried.

_What if they aren't there when we come back?_

Shaking her head vigorously, she tried to stop thinking about worrying and scanned around her.

_Trees...trees...and more trees..._

Personally she felt that it was a waste of time, due to the fact that all they had met were legions of trees as well as bugs. She wasn't bothered by the bugs owing to the fact that her dad had forced her to camp with him over the years as she grew up. Even though she hated hiking through the wild, she tolerated it because that was the only time she had really spent with her dad, his police work always forcing him to work around the clock.

_Stop thinking about him._

Zoey frowned as she gripped her pistols a little tighter. She couldn't afford to wallow herself in grief as she remembered the final moments with her mom and dad. The final moments where she had to put down her dad...

A hard lump had appeared in her throat, making it hard to swallow as she tried to hold down the tears threatening to stream down her cheeks. Something was off though, there was a strange yet familiar stench in the air...

She didn't even notice when she walked headfirst into Francis' solid frame.

-_boink-_

"Ow! What gives-"

She was cut off by the biker raising a hand at the other two. Louis froze as he saw the signal to be quiet.

Questioningly, Zoey looked at what was ahead of them-

_What would make him stop still?_

Despite herself, she let out an audible gasp as she saw what was in front of them.

"What the _fuck_?..."

The analyst fell to his bottom, his mouth open in horror as he said it.

"Wha...What..."

A sight unlike anything they had ever seen before rested itself in front of the three. It was a very small clearing, just barely a feet or two in both directions, but it was enough to showcase what was in the middle of it.

Hanging on a single tree's branches was the dried up corpses of humans...or at least partially looked like humans. There were five bodies, each so mutilated that Zoey, Louis, or Francis couldn't even see if they had faces or not. The smell radiating off of the bodies was so strong, they could smell it quite some feet away.

Despite all of them used to seeing blood and gore flying all around them, it was different to see someone's brutal work. Brutal being the mild way of putting it. The arms, or at least it _looked _like the remains of arms, of the corpses were sliced into bits, rotting flesh poking out in all directions as swarms of flies greedily feasted on the cadavers.

The smell was overpowering, enough to make Zoey and Louis lightheaded from the stench, although Francis didn't seem as bothered by it, perhaps owing to his tough life experiences.

"Wh..Who would _do _something like this?"

Zoey couldn't help but feel nausea as she stared at the bodies. It became too much for her when she saw that each finger and toes were cut off from each of the bodies. She turned away as she vomited on a nearby bush.

Louis himself was speechless as he viewed the bloody scene.

_What...Who...What..._

The questions were reeling in his head, becoming more and more intense as he saw the bodies. It was the sight of the holes on the bodies between their legs that made Louis turn green with nausea and throwing up nearby a bush as well.

Francis only looked grimly ahead, his hands tight on his shotgun. He frowned as he studied the corpses.

"They're all guys."

The biker said simply as he too noticed the castrations on the bodies. They all seemed to range in age. From what Francis could tell, they looked around mid twenties to young forties. The bodies looked like they were hung a while ago, judging from the smell and state the blood dried. They were all tortured to death, something that even Francis found revolting.

Zoey only groaned as she let up everything in her stomach. Louis wasn't doing so well either, still looking nauseated as he stood up.

_Someone is on this island, probably more than two or three for that matter. _

Francis looked and was dumb, but he could think when the time called for it. Judging from the number of men that was killed, they were dealing with a group of sadists who seemed to like cutting up the bodies of their victims.

"Over here."

The biker looked back at the two as he walked back a little. Zoey could only manage a nod, taking shaky steps back towards the way they came from. Louis followed suit, not wanting to take another look at the scene behind them. Francis took up the rear, ignoring the biting of the mosquitoes as he put all his senses to watching for anything around them.

They huddled together as they discussed what they just saw.

"What kind of people could do that..."

Zoey couldn't help but feel fear that someone could torture others to that extent, not only once but on five different men.

_How about Bill...Benny?_

The anxiety in her was mounting, shooting skyward as she realized that a group of people were out there on the island, a group that enjoyed torturing their victims and leave them hanging on trees.

"We should go back, we need to think up of a plan, there's no way we could leave this alone."

Louis felt uneasy about the bodies, it was almost impossible to think anyone could do that to another person, five people to be exact.

"We should go back and tell Bill the situation then!"

They all agreed that it was the best course of action to warn the other two that the island wasn't as safe as they thought it would be.

"They aren't human. No human would do that."

Louis was surprised by the simple statement of the biker. Usually Francis would crack a joke during times like these, but this time he actually said something not even close to being humorous. Zoey noticed it too, looking back at the grim lines set on Francis' face.

_Did something happen to him too?_

Francis never talked about his past with any of them, not once during the times they had journeyed together. None of them really wanted to know about him, each putting their own view that Francis probably only lived a life of stealing and that was it. But looking at the expression of the biker, made Zoey think twice about that, making her curious.

"Hey Fran-"

Zoey opened her mouth and began before being cut off by a distant sound.

-_faint bang-_

All three of them stopped in their tracks as they heard the sound. Instinct took over as each of them carefully continued to walk back, their guns cocked and ready.

_-bang bang-_

This time, the shots were heard clearer. The direction of the sound was exactly in the direction of where they were returning. They all looked at each other in shock, realizing that something was going on back at the ship.

Her blood running wild, Zoey stormed off in the direction, ignoring the shouts and calls from her two friends as they fell behind her, not being able to run as fast.

"STOP! _HOLD ON ZOEY!" _

Louis yelled as he panted. Trying to keep up with her was hard when she actually ran her fullest. Francis wasn't that speedy himself, putting on more muscle to smack Infected then to run away from them. Even if they were running, they were a very long distance off from reaching the boat.

_No._

_-pant-_

_It can't be. _

The small branches cut at her legs as she ran.

_-pant- -pant-_

Her long pony tail whipping behind her as she felt the wind blow against her.

_No...Noooo..._

_-pant-_

Her legs ached with the exertion. Her breathe becoming more and more ragged as her feet flew past the grass beneath her.

_Don't be dead. Don't be..._

Even though she was running full pelt back to the boat, she was still a distance away. She knew that she couldn't keep it up, her adrenaline going down as her body lost more and more energy. She crashed onto a tree, a stitch on her side as she gulped down desperately for air.

_Damn it. MOVE!_

Her muscles screamed in protest as she forced herself to walk quickly, the shots still ringing in her eardrums despite having been shot minutes ago.

"Zoey! _Zoey!" _

The other two had caught up with her, both panting with the effort.

"Let's go together, we need to a plan! Don't go running off on your own!"

Louis put a warm hand on her shoulder as they continued to hurry back to the boat.

Not a word was said between them, each worrying about what had happened. Once they reached the familiar opening of the jungle, they went out to the littered beach.

Zoey ran to the boat as she saw that no one was there, the other two hurrying with her. She couldn't help but notice the deep footprints on the sand, leading somewhere into the jungle they just came out of.

"No! NO! This _can't _be happening..."

"Blood..."

Francis pointed at the drops of blood on the ship, leading towards the sand. The drops of blood followed the tracks, leading into the left side of the jungle.

"This is _all my fault._"

Zoey broke down in tears as she blamed herself that she had chose to go instead of staying behind with the two.

"Stop it Zoey. It's _no one's _fault."

Louis tried to comfort the teenager, but it didn't seem to work as she raged-

"If only _I _had stayed, they might still be here!"

She howled, tearing at her hair, before being pulled into a hug by the analyst.

"Shut up."

The simple phrase made her look up in surprise at Louis. He had never told her to be quiet, not once and yet this time he did.

"Just shut up."

Louis didn't know what to say, but pulled her closer, until her head rested on his chest. She silently sobbed on his shirt, tears soaking his tie as he held her.

"I-I'm sorry." She sniffed, "I _can't _believe that I'm such a crybaby."

Louis hushed her as he looked towards the tracks, Francis was already studying it crouched down, having no wish to hear Zoey's blubbing.

"There were two people, one was holding someone, these tracks tell it."

Francis gave a look at Louis, who nodded at the biker.

"Zoey, you ok?"

Zoey wasn't, but she pulled away and wiped her tears for the second time on her red jacket.

"I'm fine..."

"Good, let's follow the tracks."

The biker waved at Louis to get ready with preparing their supplies. Ammo, food, guns.

"We have to prepare for the worst though."

The both of them throwing things together into their packs as well as Zoey's. Zoey could only stare at the jungle, trying to hold herself together as she turned and joined the other two.

"What's the plan?"

Francis didn't like planning, so he usually left it to Louis, Zoey, or Bill.

"We have to be careful, for someone to have subdued Bill and Benny...they must be good...We should track them down, then find a way to save them."

"Who could be _that_ good?"

The biker didn't believe that _anyone_ could just beat the old man when it came to combat.

"Hmph. I say we just find them and shoot them."

"Sure, if you think it's that easy..."

Louis rolled his eyes at that plan.

"Our best plan would just be to stealthily trace and find them, and not make much of a commotion. There's probably more people in this jungle then we thought, we can't just shoot at them like their Infected, it would probably attract more people and their guns."

The biker grunted in annoyance-

"Fine! Let's just go! We're gonna lose them at this rate! It's almost night!"

Zoey nodded mutely, agreeing that the tracks wouldn't be as easy to follow if it was dark. Louis agreed as well, they were definitely losing time to find Bill and Benny, but they had to take precautions or else the tables would turn on them, something that Bill had taught them.

The three made their way, following the deep tracks Bill made on the beach earlier, the sun twinkling behind them as they delved into the darkening jungle.

Author's Note: Did you guys enjoy? Please comment or review if you have the time! Thanks for reading! :D


	10. Ruminations

Pairings: Can you guys guess whose being paired? ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign).

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Thank you for reading chapter 10! I hope ya'll review or comment, anything helps! I want to see what my readers think, so I don't go blindly charging towards writing something bizarre. Haha, just kidding! As usual, please enjoy reading! :D

Chapter 10

Ruminations

-_crunch-_

Old military boots crushed the grass below them as the owner treaded slowly into the darkening jungle. His steps were heavier than normal, the veteran being forced to carry Benny who was still unconscious. Bill was closely followed by the pirate, who kept an eye on the old veteran's back.

_Hm..._

Tactical expert he was, his eyes were trained to scan his surroundings for anything he could use as a weapon.

_Jungle. _

It came back to him as a sour rush of memory, at once familiar and yet uncertain in its variegation. Everything was the same. The odd noises, the stink of decay, the harsh dark shadows contrasted with the searing patches of sunlight, the humidity...One of his homes.

_Four fucking tours in 'Nam. Now this? I know you're neutral, so what have you got that I can use?_

Bill scanned his surroundings with alert, hooded eye-interest, but didn't see anything he could use from the thick green terrain. However, Bill did make sure to put more force into his steps to add deeper tracks in the soft dirt for his other three comrades to see if they were tracking him.

Bill looked down at Benny's face, the latter was still knocked out, blood caked the side of his head. The veteran grunted as the weight of the teenager was beginning to wear him down. Bill had to do something before he either got too tired to fight or reached where-ever the pirate wanted him to go.

_If more of these bastards show up that would be bad. Being slammed up in a box at some fucking pirate camp wouldn't be my ideal situation. At least there's some advantage out here in the dark..._

"_Move it you old bastard. _Lift ya feet, like ya stole 'em_." _

The pirate jabbed Bill in the back with his rifle, the latter grunting in annoyance.

Bill wasn't sure if the plan to act like a useless old man had worked, seeing as he almost blew it when he had yelled at the pirate a few seconds after he employed the act. But Bill kept it up throughout the whole time they were walking. Making sure to stumble around, complaining of the heat, and panting in excessively.

Bill decided to push his chances a bit, to see how the pirate reacted if he suddenly stopped. Bill began to pretend that he was running out of breathe, clutching at his side, something that most people would expect for an old man to do when he had too much exercise.

-_gasp- _

Bill began to pant as he slowed down and stopped next to a particularly large tree that had strange markings, which he didn't take the time to study.

"What deh _fuck?!_ No one told ya to stop you shit!"

The frustrated pirate poked the gun firmly in Bill's direction, but-

"I..I...can't...I have a heart condition..."

Bill made sure to take shaking breathes to make sure it seemed that he really did have something wrong with him.

It was a bit hard for Bill to act this way, to shove aside his pride away and pretend to be some weak old man that people expected him to be. That was one of the reasons he hated people, they always thought that he was only some grandpa that lived around the corner that couldn't do anything besides drink and sleep. It was even the same when people tried to talk to him, they would have some sort of pity tone in their voice that would annoy the hell out of Bill.

Perhaps it was only Bill himself, always being cold and resentful, but he remembered the time when he came back from Vietnam. His leg pretty much shattered and useless for the rest of his life, he was forced to leave duty after his fourth tour. And yet he hadn't expect that people would give him looks of loathe and disgust when they saw him get off the bus in his uniform. He had thought he was volunteering his life to fight for his country, and yet the very ones who he had risked his life for treated him in contempt.

He couldn't stand the murmurs or conversations behind his back, everyone seemed to hate him and would distance themselves away from him when he walked close to them. Bill became bitter, not only bitter at the people who hated him only for the reason that he fought in the Vietnam War, but bitter at his very own country that had used him and threw him out like trash after he had nothing more to give.

And yet months and years later, people had pretty much forgotten war veterans like Bill. Perhaps there were some hospitals made to honor them and programs to assist the veterans integrate back into society, but nothing could really give back what they had lost from the war and the treatment they received from the people whom they fought for. Instead of disgusted looks, people began to pity them instead, thinking that the veterans couldn't take care of themselves.

Thrown away into the shadows, Bill was merely someone who worked odd jobs to pay for his small apartment and tobacco. He had no one to talk to nor did he want to talk to people who only pitied him for what they thought who he was, not the person he really was. They only saw him as an old senile man who had the unfortunate experience to almost die in the war. Bill just couldn't stand the looks of pity on him when people when they found out that he was a veteran.

Bill probably would've lashed out at someone or something eventually if his life continued that way, sitting on his couch just smoking the hours away.

_Fucking Green Flu. _

He had finally made it to the top of some bureaucrat's shiny elective surgery list to get yet another procedure done to his knee. It had taken months and not a little pressure from his general practitioner for the VA to give him their magic tick of approval. Then...guess what?

_The Green Flu came around the block corner and fucked me in the ass. The story of my damn life. _

A young resident had tried to strike a conversation with Bill, something the veteran didn't have for years. However, the resident asked questions that had such an obvious answer, Bill didn't feel the need to respond to them. After all, who asks if he was a veteran if he went to a veteran's hospital for surgery? He snapped at the resident, scaring him, telling him to get away from him. Bill could feel the pity, the resident only talking to him because the resident felt sorry for him, something that made Bill finally crack.

He went onto the surgery table and the nurse had turned into an Infected right there on the spot. Bill had no choice but to fight her off, despite them having put a sleeping drug on him for the surgery. He had managed throw her off long enough to find a long, thick knife and sliced off the nurse's head. Bill couldn't recall how he had managed to find his way to his apartment through the mobs of Infected on the street other than blurs of blood and hacking and slicing.

When he had reached his apartment, Bill opened the trunk that had all his worldly possessions. Not only his beloved assault rifle, but also his old military uniform and dog-tags. He donned them on with a cigarette in his mouth, ready to go out into the world that had so long crushed him.

Perhaps fate would be cruel to him and kill him off as it had tried to so long ago when a bomb had set off near him, but he was lucky enough to be saved by a fellow soldier who had cared enough to break from his platoon and see what had happened. However, Bill knew that it was the time to put his skills to the test, not as some old man, but as a soldier that would survive any hell-hole.

And so he did, leading a group of people he met on the road to safety: A college girl, a IT-worker, a biker, and finally Benny. Bill didn't show it, but he did find relief and pleasure at the fact that he still had all the abilities he had from being a War-fighter and was able to utilize them enough to lead all of them through countless mobs of Infected.

And here he was pretending to be the very thing he never wanted to be, a subservient weakling. He knew that the situation called for him to act this way, but acting like a "grey man" was something he knew well. After all, it was something he did back in the SF, trying to look weak and intimidated while his arrogant opponent would discount him as a potential threat and have the tables turned on him.

_Just a little longer..._

The pirate growled in frustration as he saw the old man in front of him stop, apparently from exhaustion.

"_GAH! KEEP FUCKING WALKING!"_

He tried to shove Bill with his other hand, but the latter only stumbled forward with no resistance.

"I-I need...to..rest..."

Bill panted, clutching at his chest, as he leaned on the tree with the strange carvings on it. He turned towards the pirate, hoping that against hope that he would fall for his act.

The pirate hissed in anger-

_Damn dis old bastard. _

"_ARE YEH DEAF? I SAID TO KEEP FUCKING WALKING!"_

The pirate did exactly what Bill wanted him to do, leaning forward to smack the veteran in the side of his head with his gun. With one clean move, Bill smashed the gun away from the pirate's hand with his own hand. The pirate gasped in surprise at the sudden retaliation from Bill, his eyes widening in fear as he realized that he was unarmed. The gun clattered to the ground a few feet away from them. Knowing that the pirate was now weaponless and probably not good at hand to hand combat, Bill knew that this was his chance. However, Bill had no choice but to drop Benny down unceremoniously onto the grassy terrain.

"_FUCK!"_

The pirate tried to dive at the rifle, but he wasn't fast enough as Bill crashed into him headfirst. They scuffled around, each trying to find the upper hand, but Bill won out by sending a smart punch to the pirate's head. The pirate grunted in pain and fell on his back, Bill's knees on his chest. The veteran began to beat the living shit out of him. he pirate screamed horribly in pain while Bill went maximum aggressiveness, putting full force behind his punches.

"Who's a weak old man now _asshole?"_

Bill panted with effort, saying each word with a punch following it.

The pirate moaned in pain, blood flowing from his face and from the pain of it, it seemed his jaw was broken as well. Bill left the pirate to grovel in the dirt while he retrieved the rifle from the ground.

"Alright, I got good news and bad news. The bad news is that an AK round costs 5 cents, the good news is that your belt around your neck and a tree branch are free. So how's your wallet looking there, Dunston?"

Bill was still a bit pissed off at the fact that the pirate had snuck up on them and smashed the back of Benny's head. Not to mention the ache of his arms, neck, and legs from carrying Benny for a trip inside the dark jungle.

"Please man, I-I'll give yeh anything! Money, a-anything!"

The pirate began to beg pathetically as he saw that he wasn't in charge anymore. Bill clucked his tongue in annoyance at the fact that having a gun made people feel empowered, an example being the pirate. Just one moment ago he was in full control with Bill having to follow his orders, and now when he lost the gun, he was begging pitifully for his life.

"I _hate _pathetic bastards like you."

Bill grinned wryly..._Gotta stop channeling Francis...maybe it's contagious... _

Without another word, Bill did the exact same thing the pirate did to Benny, he smashed the gun on the pirate's head. The pirate collapsed with a grunt of pain, mud and wet leaves around him as his body hit the ground.

Bill looked around for anything to tie the pirate with. Noticing vines from a nearby tree, he reached down and took out his combat knife from his boot. He sliced off a couple of the vines, feeling the sturdiness of them. He grabbed the collar of the jacket on the pirate and slowly dragged him to a thin tree. The unconscious pirate was propped on the tree sitting upright as Bill expertly wrapped the vines around him, making sure that it would hold and there was no way he could get out by himself.

_I wonder what this scumbag is part of..._

A groan came from behind Bill, as Benny began to pick himself up.

"Wha-what happened? My head hurts so baddddd."

Benny complained, feeling as if his head was hit with a hammer.

"Someone knocked you out."

Bill rushed to Benny to check up on him, reaching up to look at the teenager's condition.

_He seems fine._

Benny grunted as he tried to stand up, staggering a bit before falling down, Bill catching him before he hit the ground.

"_Who_ can't stand now?"

Benny rolled his eyes as his own joke was turned onto him. He looked and saw the tied up pirate a few feet away in front of them. The former college student frowned as he saw the person who had knocked him out, taking note of the pirate's state of clothes.

_Shouldn't have let my guard down..._

Benny cursed himself as he felt light-headed, knowing that he probably had a concussion from the blow to his head. Bill sat down beside him, looking intently at the teenager as the latter shook his head, trying to wake himself up.

"Hey, how many fingers?"

Bill put up two fingers in front of Benny, the latter squinting a bit through the haze of pain-

"Two, I think."

Bill nodded-

"You should be ok."

Bill scanned their surroundings to see if anyone else was around them.

"They should be coming soon, if I know them at all."

"_As long_ as they don't kill each other, they should be fine..."

Benny mumbled in reply, as the pain began to turn into a dull ache. The teenager knew that the other three from the group must have heard the loud gun shots from his hunting rifle and were tracking them right now.

"Hey Bill."

Bill turned back and looked at Benny, giving him a questioning look with his eyebrow raised.

"Sorry about that."

The teenager knew that it was his fault that they were put into danger, him haven't checking to see if the coast was clear and put his back in front of the pirate, leaving him wide open for backstabbing.

Bill knew what he was thinking. the guilty look that Benny had on his face as he looked at the old veteran. He put a hand on Benny's shoulder-

"We all make mistakes."

Benny felt a small comfort from Bill's words, although he still felt responsible for their situation.

"I guess I owe you one then."

"Huh?"

"You saved me right? From that slime-ball over there."

Benny pointed towards the unconscious pirate, who seemed to squirm in discomfort as he was tied up pretty tightly. Bill shrugged as he went back to watching and listening for any signs of approaching people.

_We better ask him what the hell is going on this island when he wakes up...but what next? This is a bad spot to wait in..._

Bill noted that they were still on the trail, the one the pirate wanted them to walk on. There was no doubt that it was a bad idea to stay, a more than likely chance that a friend of the pirate would walk down it. Making up his mind-

"We have to get off this trail."

Benny looked around them, noticing that they really were right smack in the middle of a trail that continued forward into the dark jungle. He nodded at the veteran and managed to pick himself up by using a tree as support. Bill made sure that the pirate was still knocked out before slicing his bonds and began to drag the pirate by the armpits off the trail. Benny followed Bill, the two stumbling into a small clearing that was pretty well concealed by vines from trees.

"I'm going to interrogate this piece of shit." Bill said to Benny who was still leaning on a tree.

"Go ahead, I think I need to sit down..."

Benny groaned as he slid down on the tree, his head still spinning. As much as Bill hated doing interrogations, as they usually ended up bloody, but they had no choice seeing as they needed to know what was going on in this island. The veteran propped the pirate on a tree and tied him up again with more vines. He began to slap the pirate with his left hand, trying to wake him up, as he had his combat knife ready in his other hand.

"_Wuh?"_

The pirate snapped awake, trying to move, but couldn't due to the vines wrapped around him.

"Where-"

The pirate began before he felt the sharp edge of a knife placed on his throat. He looked up to the sharp gleam of Bill's eyes as he felt a massive wave of panic and fear.

"You listen to me. Shut up and answer everything I ask. Or your throat gets slit. Understand?"

The pirate could only nod mutely, the knife cutting in to his skin a little when he did so. There were so many things Bill wanted to know, but he knew that he had to begin by finding out who else was on the island besides them.

"Who else is on this island?"

"M-Me and a group of people."

By people, Bill took it to mean a gang of pirates.

"And why are you people on this island?"

"To git away from those _goddam _zombies, what else?!"

The pirate spat at the veteran, before he felt the knife pressed even more firmly on his throat.

"Don't spit at me, you _piece of shit_."

The pirate gulped at the death tone of Bill, knowing that he wasn't joking about slicing his throat.

"Well...there was a military base here, I was part of a group that soldiers rescued..."

_Military? On this island?_

Bill thought furiously-

_Wouldn't they have knew that we were coming?_

"Where's the soldiers then?"

"Some order came from the higher-ups, I dunno, almost all of them left for something, only three of them stayed behind to watch the base...And then we took over by locking them up."

The pirate gave a rather savage grin at the memory of them taking over the base, them being the owners of the island. Even though Bill hated the military and it's methods for the Green Flu, he couldn't believe that people would take over a base that was meant for their safety and not to make the island some pirate haven.

"Well, where is this _base_?"

"As if I would-"

-_smack-_

The pirate began before Bill gave a hard slap to his face, motioning him to continue with his knife.

"I-I was going to bring you guys there, you just follow the trail we were on and it leads right there..."

Bill nodded, as his questions were pretty much all answered. There was a military base run over by a bunch of pirates and there were locked up soldiers as well. It would be a perfect place for them to take refuge in, although they would have to get rid of the pirates.

"How many of you are there?"

"Twelve not including me."

_Twelve? That might be a stretch. _

"I see. Thanks for your help."

_And what to do with this guy? It's too much of a risk to leave him here and tell other people about us..._

Bill didn't see any choice but to do what he did in the war. He gripped the knife tightly in his hand as he looked at the pirate who seemed to know what he was about to do-

"_Huh? _Wait! Wait! I thought you were-"

Bill didn't let him finish before slicing at his throat, the pirate opening and closing his mouth with a silent scream on his lips. Blood erupted from the line that Bill drew, the pirate thrashing around in his bonds. Benny had saw the whole interrogation, but turned away from the bloody sight.

It was..._different..._to see a fellow human killing another, it was nothing like killing an Infected who was a long way from them. Benny knew that Bill didn't have any choice but to do so, but he still didn't want to see the pirate bleeding from his throat. Bill grunted as he sliced the bonds of the pirate for the second time and dragged the body into a thick bush, making sure to kick mud and leaves over the bloody trail the body left.

Bill walked back to Benny-

"Let's shift, don't want to sit next to a corpse do you?"

Benny nodded and used the tree next to him as support to get up. Bill took note of the way they entered the small clearing, making sure to remember where they had left off from the trail. Bill moved deeper into the dark jungle, pausing to clear his tracks with mud or leaves, Benny following suit as he followed the veteran.

_I wonder if they made it back to the boat. There didn't seem to be any more of these shit heads or else we would've heard more gun shots..._

The old veteran slowly made his way into another clearing, a bit smaller than the other one before, but was just as well concealed. Benny plopped down onto a tree, groaning-

"I don't think I can move anymore."

Bill nodded and sat down beside Benny, watching their surroundings for any sign of intruders.

Benny looked around them, taking note that it was completely dark, with only some moonlight shining through the cracks of the trees. The jungle seemed too silent, too eerie as if something was waiting for them in the dark. A soft wind ruffled past them, rustling the leaves of the trees and shrubs, the only sound around them.

The former college student looked at Bill, taking a close look at how he looked.

_He still looks exactly the same..._

"What?"

Bill could feel that Benny was looking at him closely, something that made Bill feel a little awkward about. After all, the veteran had spent years in isolation from society and its people. It was only now that he had a group of family that cared for him as much as he did to them, so it came as a surprise when Benny gave him a smile, a smile similar to Zoey's when she was alone with Bill.

"Thanks. You still got the war skills."

Benny reached over and grasped Bill's shoulder in thanks. Bill felt heat rush to his cheeks at the praise from the teenager. He tried to shrug it off, not wanting Benny to notice that he felt embarrassed.

"It was nothing. They should be here soon...I did leave some tracks ever since we left the boat."

Benny looked at Bill with admiration, not thinking that Bill would think to do that when he had a gun pointed at him the whole time while Bill had to carry him at the same time. Sighing-

_I have a long way to go before I can do what Bill could._

The teenager didn't really want to just sit and wait for the other three to come. He was sure that Zoey would've noticed the tracks Bill had made, her being pretty much the veteran's protégé from what Benny could tell.

It surprised Benny to see how different Zoey was after not interacting with her for months since the break in college. She used to be so goofy and laid-back as she watched film after film instead of actually studying for her major. And now she seemed to have a more serious demeanor as well as a closed off personality, a complete opposite from before. Benny wanted to talk to Zoey about what had happened after she left for her parent's home, but never had a suitable opportunity to approach her.

He hadn't told anyone his thoughts, not wanting them to think he too nosy or something like that. Zoey always seemed to have something on her mind, even when she was talking within the group. Benny had noticed the way she would stare off into the distance when she thought she was alone.

He didn't really want to bring it up, since he was sure she didn't want to tell anyone about what she was thinking about. Besides, he wasn't in any position to judge Zoey since he was still trying to forget about what had happened that night when Bill and the three of them split up.

And yet he had managed to find Bill and Zoey again after all these months, something he didn't think was possible after all the close calls when he was following them. He hadn't thought the group would be that open to let him join their journey, owing to the fact that Francis _did _want to shoot his face in after the biker found out that Benny knew their names from all the etchings on the walls of the safe rooms that Louis put.

Benny supposed that he felt happy that he had found a great group of..._friends_...he didn't really know how to put it.

Louis was kind of like a big brother figure to him, as the analyst seemed to really care about the well-fare of the everyone in the group and was more than willing to make the mood of the group lighter with random jokes. He also seemed like someone you could talk to, as he didn't seem judgmental about anything. Francis was someone who you wouldn't want to talk to unless you wanted a joke or pun thrown at your face. The biker acted on impulse no matter what happened, something Benny learned minutes after meeting him. Benny didn't really know if he hated or liked Francis that much, as the teenager thought the biker was way too immature despite being 30 or 40 years old.

Then came Bill, someone who reminded Benny of his own father. Benny knew that both of them were war veterans, but he also found out that his father had saved Bill back in the war, when a bomb went off right next to Bill's platoon. Benny never really told anyone about his father, not wanting people to pry into his family life. His father was very much like Bill: gruff, silent, and commanding. Ever since he was in middle school, Benny's father would make him go to boot camps, something Benny absolutely hated. It wasn't like he hated learning first-aid or other survival things, but he didn't like the fact that he was forced to go. Although, looking at it now, it seemed to be logical now that they were in a zombie-ridden world. Benny wasn't sure how he felt about Bill. On one side, he respected and admired the veteran's combat skills and the fact that he was a great tactician as well. On the other side, Bill was something like a father-figure to Benny, which he didn't know how he should feel about it, even more so now that Bill saved his life a second time.

He shook his head as he turned his thoughts to Zoey. He had only known her for around a year in college. He, Zack, Chloe, and Zoey, best of friends as they spent all their time together watching zombie flicks. Zoey was the life of the group, always cracking jokes and puns no matter what was going on. He recalled the times he and Zoey spent together making fun of professors and their dreadfully dull assignments. He had a feeling that Zoey liked him, seeing as she would mostly only invite him to her room to talk about anything on her mind. A complete opposite of the girl who used to tell Benny everything that went on in her day. Although she seemed to distance herself a bit when he became Chloe's boyfriend, perhaps out of jealousy or regret.

_How much do I care about Zoey? I know I like her, but...I'm not sure if she has the same feelings as I do..._

Benny knew that he did. Zoey was resourceful, pretty, and smart but he wasn't sure what sort of relationship he should have with her. After all, they were still survival comrades and old friends who were thrown together after suddenly meeting up at the bridge.

Besides, he didn't want to tread into the group's relationships only after meeting them so soon. Yet what young guy could stop himself from falling in love with a such a girl? It was all he could do to stop himself from grabbing and kissing her, but it would probably upset the group's balance if she became too embarrassed in his presence if he did so, and Zoey would probably smash his face in for doing that.

Benny sighed as he was lost in his thoughts about Zoey. From what he could tell, she only really opened up to Bill, the way she talked and acted around the veteran completely different from the rest of them. Benny knew that their relationship was different the moment he saw them sitting together on the boat, Zoey seeming to place an iron-clad trust in the old man. At any rate, they seemed exactly like father and daughter, but he wasn't sure if Bill or Zoey knew that.

"So..."

Benny wanted to do something else than just ponder about things, trying to strike up a conversation with Bill.

Bill only raised an eyebrow-

"What?"

"Well...when do you think they're going to reach us?"

"Don't know. Just hope that they don't do anything stupid."

Bill wanted to smoke a cigarette, but he had left it back at the boat, not having time when they were being threatened at gunpoint.

_Geh. He's not talkative without a cigarette huh?_

Benny wanted to talk to him about Zoey, but wasn't sure how far he could take it. The teenager decided to start with something simple-

"How did you meet the Louis, Francis and Zoey?"

"Well, I met Francis almost right after I left you guys, he was on his goddamn noisy bike trying to fight off a mob on his back. I saved his butt and he decided to follow me, saying he didn't want an old codger to walk to the University by himself or some dumb crap like that."

Benny nodded. _Sounds exactly like Francis. _

"Louis was in an office building right next to the University gate, I think he was trying to jump off the building since there was a whole bunch of Infected right behind him, but he looked too scared to actually jump down, until he was knocked over by them."

Bill grinned as he remembered the biker being smashed to the floor by the analyst landing on him.

"Good thing he landed on Francis."

The veteran continued-

"And we found Zoey screaming from her room window, her room was about to be broken in by an Infected. Good thing she was pretty athletic, she climbed down to us."

"Yeah, she used to take gymnastics, I guess she had to do something other than watching films. But you didn't tell her about us?"

"I didn't want her to worry about you guys...and I thought ya'll would come back..."

Bill threw a glance at the teenager, the latter growing pale at Bill's words.

"I-I see. I guess that was for the best. At least she seems to have toughened up. I didn't think she could shoot that well. She probably never held a gun in her life before this shit happened."

Bill shrugged-

"I taught her myself, although she's pretty hard-headed and stubborn about things."

"Yeah, she's a pretty wild girl. Although, she changed so much these past months..."

Benny wrapped his arms around his legs as he looked at the old veteran-

"She doesn't seem to trust anyone that much anymore..."

Bill raised an eyebrow at that comment, but he did get where Benny was going at. The first time he met Zoey, she had kept to herself, not wanting to talk with any of them, only opening up later in their journey. Even then, she didn't like talking about herself or her past. Benny continued on-

"I mean back then she was a care-free girl, she could talk with anyone about anything, it didn't matter if she knew them or not. It's like she became someone else..."

With a sigh, Benny closed his mouth as he finished his sentence. Bill didn't comment on it, absorbing what Benny told him about Zoey. They sat in silence, each in his own thoughts as the trees ruffled in the breeze.

Author's Note:

**_In celebration of my 10th chapter, I would like to thank you all who support and read my scribbles of fiction-_**

**_Thank you to Harry-Flashman! Without your tips or guidance, there's no doubt that this story would've ended up in the waters somewhere! Thank you for sparing the time to deal with all my problems and whatnot! :3_**

**_Hello to shephard110, the second one to follow my story, I hope you continue to enjoy what I write!_**

**_And ,of course, thank you to the readers for reading my story as well as these long, boring thank you's!_**

**_Please read and review!_**

**_-Pwnables_**


	11. Devised Plan

Pairings: Can you guys guess whose being paired? ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign).

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

Hey guys! Sorry if I'm updating a bit slowly. Don't worry, I'll continue this story until it ends, it just might not be updated as quickly now that I'm in college!

But please as always: read, enjoy, review, comment! ;)

Chapter 11

Devised Plan

_-ribbit-_

The pale green amphibian rested on a fallen tree log as it surveyed its surroundings with the intention of finding food. As it was night, the darkness hid the frog rather well, although it didn't need the extra protection considering the rather potent poison on its skin. Bulging eyes moved around, watching until its owner spotted a fat fly zooming towards it.

_ -swish-_

A long, sticky tongue slipped out and instantly wrapped around the bug. Just as quickly, the tongue shot back into the frog's mouth. The frog took its time enjoying the taste of juices from the fly's body as it sat contentedly on the log.

-_crunch-_

A sound startled the frog from enjoying its meal as it turned its eyes to see three figures emerging from the darkness.

"_SHIT! _Where'd that old man and kid go to?"

The outburst from the biker broke the sleepy silence that permeated the jungle.

"_Shut the fuck up! _You want people to know where we are?"

Another outburst came, this time at Francis from the analyst. The two glared at each other, each wishing that he could bash the other's head in. However, they had a more important task to do than just bicker and fight as they usually would. In front of them, Zoey was watching the ground carefully and intently for tracks.

_Where are you two?_

The brunette's eyebrows were scrunched up in worry as she kept note of the rather deep tracks. There were only two sets of tracks, one was heavy and easily noted for while the other set was light and faded. Perhaps the assailant was heavy set and had overpowered Bill and Benny, but Zoey didn't believe that either Bill or Benny would actually lose in a gun fight.

_Backstabbed probably..._

Zoey could still vividly remember the blood on the boat, unsure of whose it was, but she knew that it was either Bill's or Benny's. The former college student didn't know why the sight of the blood had made her heart stop. After all, didn't she shoot hundreds if not thousands of Infected? She learned to stop flinching or grimacing at the splats and splatters of blood hitting her as she and the group mowed them down to get to their destination.

And yet she literally froze when she saw the sight of the blood on the boat, the same reaction she had when she saw the ruby pool of liquid coming from the bodies of her dead parents. Zoey had only ever told Bill about that moment, her crying her heart out as she discovered that the immunity gene ran through the father's side. Bill didn't say anything but hugged her tightly as she cried on his shoulder.

Her tears forcing her to go back into her memories-

Zoey and her mom were arguing over her grades and that she was dropping out of college. Zoey didn't care that she was failing her classes because she was watching too many films, but her mom didn't like that her daughter was acting so irresponsibly and immaturely by dropping out voluntarily. Her father had cut in, saying that Zoey should just go to the police academy and become just like her good ole dad, something that her mother absolutely turned down.

His idea didn't sound too bad. After all, Zoey didn't feel bothered to continue to go to the University where the professors all seemed to hate her guts and her always arguing against them in their taught subjects. It was a relief when she could just sit in her room and watch some flick with Chloe, Zack, or Benny. She had gotten a scholarship for film-making, but mostly only watched the films rather than learned how to make them. Maybe it was the feeling of hatred towards her teachers, or maybe it was the stinging jealously every time she saw Chloe hug Benny. Whatever it was, Zoey couldn't handle college anymore.

At the same time they were about to get deeper into the argument, a street bum broke into the apartment, mumbling and swinging around, disoriented. Swiftly Zoey's dad took out his gun from the jacket next to him-

"_STOP! _Don't come closer or I'll shoot!"

Zoey wasn't so sure that the bum was actually listening, not from the way his eyes were turned over and blank while his mouth was drooling without restraint. Her dad hesitated, not sure what was going on.

"Is it that flu-"

His question was stopped when the bum made a powerful swipe in his direction, knocking him down onto the floor.

"_OOOOF!" _

He grunted in pain as his gun flew out of his hands and slid away on the smooth flooring.

"_Wade?!" _

Zoey's mother let out a blood-curdling scream as the bum hunched towards her and took a huge bite out of her face.

"_Carolynn!" _

-_bang-_

Wade managed to retrieve the gun and blow the bum's head off, but Zoey's mom lay on the floor, screaming in agony, the side of her side of the face chewed off. He bent over her trying to calm her down, ignoring the giant pool of blood flowing out of her wound.

"Zoey call the ambulance!"

Zoey fumbled for the phone lying on the kitchen counter, dropping it a few times from shock and fear. Just as she was about to dial 911, a sudden grunt of pain came from behind her. She froze as she saw her mother rise up and suddenly attacked Wade, the latter not defending himself in time and received an agonizing scrap of nails on his eye.

"Mo-Mom?"

The now Infected woman turned and screamed at the paralyzed teenager in front of her. Charging, Carolyn raised her fists in preparation to beat Zoey into a bloody pulp until Wade shot her in the head from behind. Zoey could only gape in silent horror as she saw her mom fall to the ground dead. Her dad panted as he felt blood drip down his side of the face which now bore enormous claw marks, his right eye completely gored. Zoey bent down, shaking her dad out of his haze of pain.

"D-Dad? Are you ok? I need to get a first-aid kit..."

Zoey didn't know what to do besides relying on the survival skills that her dad had taught her from camping together. She stopped when her dad grabbed her arm, stopping her from going to the medical box in another room.

"It's too late...Remember those zombie movies we watched together?"

He grinned as she nodded, tears slowly dripping down her face as she knew what he wanted her to do. He placed the gun in her hands, the latter holding the gun stonily, betraying the look of pure fear and horror in her face.

-_croak-_

The loud sound of a frog startled her out of her thoughts as she saw the amphibian jump off of a log near them and disappeared into the dark jungle.

Zoey shook her head, wondering why her past would suddenly emerge from the shadows of her mind. She could still remember the mixture of pain and love on his face as his last words echoed in her head-

"_I love you, Zoey." _

She let out a rasping gasp for air as she tried to control her emotions. Why did the sight of the blood on the boat make her remember the time she killed her dad? Most likely it was because it was the blood of her comrades...no...her family. She didn't notice that the two had stopped in their tracks until she slammed into the back of Francis.

Zoey stumbled back, about to make an angry retort at the biker, but noticed that he and Louis had suddenly stopped, looking at the trail they were on. Zoey turned around curiously and saw that the trails had stopped altogether, the steps ending next to a tree with strange marks on it.

"Something happened here."

Francis kneeled down looking at the mud, while Louis tried to make out what happened. The two sets of tracks had changed into a confusion of shapes on the muddy ground. Instead of just footprints, there were some large shapes that they didn't know what to make of.

"I think Bill fought back..."

Zoey knew that Bill wouldn't let himself go down without a fight and it seemed that there _was _a fight, but where were the fighters themselves? Her keen eyes scanned around, taking note of their surroundings.

_If I was Bill what would I do? No doubt he would get off this trail and into some safe spot. _

This was where she started, trying to see which part of the jungle Bill would most likely go. As luck would have it, Zoey spotted a spot on the grass a few feet away that was a bit crushed.

"Guys! Over here!"

The two turned around and followed her to the spot leading deeper into the jungle, veering off of the trail.

"Should we follow it? What if it isn't Bill?"

"Well, you wanna sit on your ass and wait?"

The biker gave an impatient glare at the analyst, the latter rolling his eyes at him.

"It's not a good plan to just waltz into the jungle, and besides if it _isn't _Bill what are we going to do?"

"_Pfff_. There's no way that old man would lose to anyone, unless they know some crazy kung-fu or some shit like that."

His joke earning a chuckle from Zoey as she walked towards the two older men-

"For once, I think I have to agree with Francis. I doubt that Bill would lose in a fight, but we should at least follow our only track right now."

Louis shook his head, knowing that the plan had too much of a risk, but he couldn't stop his comrades from delving into the jungle with their own free will.

"Finally, someone who actually knows that I'm right."

Zoey rolled her eyes at the biker who puffed out his chest proudly. She led the way into the jungle, the thick vines getting in the way of her vision. She kept an eye on the ground, taking note of the small crushed spots on the muddy floor.

_Good thing I have such a great eyesight. Surprised my eyes aren't messed up from all the flicks I watched. _

It would've been impossible to see the small spots unless someone saw details as well as she did. She made sure to try to cover their tracks, something she was sure Bill had tried to do when he had moved away from the trail, but there was no way they could hide _every _track they made in the darkness. The three moved on until they hit a small clearing-

"No one's here..."

The three looked around, trying to see if someone was hiding in the shadows or in some bush. However, they didn't find anything besides-

"A_UGH!" _

Louis let out a strangled yell when he searched into a nearby bush, finding a dead body concealed in it. The other two quickly went to his side, the biker looking interested in the corpse while Zoey put a hand to her mouth. The smell of the corpse was hidden in the bush, but now that they had made a small opening, the pungent smell of spilled blood now rushed at them. Francis didn't seem to mind it all that much, moving his head a bit closer to inspect the body-

"Fresh. Probably within the hour..."

Zoey nodded and turned away from the smell, not everyone could handle the smell of corpses as well as Francis could. Louis gave a frown as he studied the dead man. Swarms of flies and insects surrounded the cadaver, lured by the intoxicating (at least to them) scent of fresh blood.

"_This _guy managed to take on Bill and Benny?"

There was utter disbelief in the analyst's voice when he asked the other two. Louis couldn't believe that someone so fat would be able to overcome two fit men.

The biker shrugged, but Zoey answered-

"Something probably happened to Bill or Benny, something that forced one of them to follow this guy..."

"Like the blood on the boat right?"

Zoey nodded, but felt the same twinge of guilt that she blamed herself for not staying with the two. She walked towards a tree and leaned on it, taking in the smells of the hot jungle as she tried to clear her mind. As she sighed when she couldn't do that, she noticed something that had evaded her sight before. There was a small patch of clothing stuck on a shrub on the opposite side of where the dead body was hidden.

_It's the same color as Benny's pants..._

Emboldened by her discovery-

"_HEY GUYS! _I think I found where they went!"

She beckoned the other two as they quickly covered the body again in the bush and went to her side. Zoey pushed aside the bush and found more small tracks of crushed grass that led to what seemed to be another group of trees dozens of feet away or so. However, it was pretty hard to make the tracks out since most of them were in the shadow of trees or bushes, something a bit annoying considering that it was night.

They all looked at each other in excitement and walked towards the trees. They made sure to move quietly in order to not attract whatever was in the jungle, especially since there was a dead body back there behind them. With each step Zoey took she felt a sense of foreboding-

_What if it isn't them? _

Her doubt was beginning to grow as the trees got closer and closer. She paused just outside of entering the ring of trees, unsure of whether or not they were going into a trap or actually finding Bill or Benny. Louis paused beside her, him also feeling a bit apprehensive of walking into a place where they couldn't really see what was inside due to the thick wall of unending green in their way. The biker glanced at the other two and scoffed-

"Cowards."

With that, the biker pushed his way into the thicket of vines and shrubbery. The other two shook their heads as they followed him, each silently remarking just how careless the biker was to just walk into an unknown place headfirst.

Francis cursed out vulgarly as the vines whipped him across the face and body. He had to butt the vines away to the side with his shotgun and arm as they blocked his way and his sight.

"Fuck. _I HATE TREES." _

However, the vines began to become fewer as he made his way deeper into the thicket, the biker noticing that there were some vines that had been slashed off judging from the short vines on top of him and their counterparts on the ground as he stepped on them.

_Probably Bill's knife. _

He remembered the time that Bill had taken the knife out of his combat boots, something that the biker admired in the old veteran. He hid a weapon in his clothing at all times, just in case things became bad.

The vines finally cleared as he stepped into another clearing-

"_ARG!" _

_"Francis?!" _

The two were still behind him in the thicket as they tried to brush past the thick wall of vines, getting tangled in some due to their haste. Something had tripped Francis as he took take a second step into the clearing, the biker falling onto his back as he had tried to twist and stop himself from falling. He felt a pair of knees jabbing into his torso, restricting his breathing as his shotgun was knocked away from him. He was winded, but it was nothing serious until he had noticed the cold edge of a knife on his throat. Looking up to his attacker-

"_Bill?!"_

The veteran looked as surprised as the biker was before he got off the biker and put away his knife. The other two had finally untangled themselves and ran to the clearing when they saw Francis sprawled on the ground and Bill standing right next to him. Zoey gave a cry of delight as she saw that Bill was alright, the brunette running up to him and hugging him. Bill returned the hug, smiling as he saw that the three weren't hurt.

Louis grinned as he saw Benny in front of a tree a feet away from them, the latter waving in greeting. Francis cursed as he scrambled onto his feet, making sure to retrieve his shotgun before something else happened.

"_DAMN IT BILL. _Next time I'll shoot your face off when you sit on me."

"Right. And I'll make sure to slit your throat the next time you fall for my trap."

The veteran coolly replied in response to the death threat of the biker. Zoey let go of Bill and walked over to Benny, wondering why he was sitting there instead of talking to them.

"What's wrong?"

She sat down beside him, worrying that something had happened to him. He grinned at her-

"Nothing, just that I got my head knocked in by some pirate. Or a tango how Bill calls them."

She looked at the side of his head and confirmed that there was dry blood matted on his hair. She felt both relief and concern at the wound, relief that he and Bill seemed fine and concern that the injury could be worse that what it seemed. Noticing her look of worry-

"Don't worry about me. Good thing Bill was here or I woulda been dragged off to some prison probably."

"Well, we should probably bandage it still."

Benny stayed silent as she fumbled around in her pack and retrieved some bandages out from the familiar red med kit. He winced as she wrapped the bandages around his head. She sat down with a sigh as she put the med kit back into the pack.

"Thanks." He smiled at her, Zoey returning it with her own.

_Looks like he's fine besides the blow to the head. _

She shuffled closer until she was shoulder to shoulder with Benny as she looked at the other three men talking a feet away. Benny was surprised at the sudden closeness, but didn't comment on it as he turned around and listened to the other three talk.

Bill was explaining what had happened, the other two listening in rap attention. The veteran didn't go too into detail about him turning the tables on the tango, but it sounded impressive all the same.

"Not bad for an oldie like yourself."

Bill gave Francis a cold glare, the latter grinning at the veteran.

"Anyways, what happened to you guys? Find anything to the right of the jungle?"

Louis, Francis, and Zoey gave each other a look before Louis explained the scene where they found five dead men. Bill's expression became graver and graver with each detail coming out of Louis' mouth. Benny looked shocked, but didn't say anything as he listened to the gruesome details. After he listened to their discovery, Bill nodded to himself-

"Alright, we need a plan to deal with these bastards."

The veteran turned around and signaled the two teenagers to come over to the middle of the clearing. Benny stumbled as he tried to rise up, but managed due to Zoey helping him up. The reunited group of five sat down in the middle of the clearing as Bill began-

"So we have 12 tangos to deal with on this island. They're hiding in some military base just ahead of us on that trail. Apparently, they like torturing and killing people from the sounds of it."

"Heck, why should we waste the time fighting them? Might as well just sail to another island."

Louis nodded at the biker's words, seeing no point in risking their lives fighting twelve to five. Zoey didn't comment but wanted to see what others thought before she put her opinion out. Benny shook his head and responded-

"I see your reasoning, but we have to consider the place they're at. I mean it's a _military _base! Just think of all the supplies, food, information they would have stored in it!"

Francis snorted.

"We have plenty of food in the boat, and besides the military hasn't exactly been _helpful _to us."

Benny didn't experience what the other four had been through when they were locked up like animals waiting for their death sentence as the military decided what they should do with them. It was only because of an idiot who turned on the alarm that attracted hundreds if not thousands of Infected that allowed them to escape.

"Yeah, but the supplies we have _aren't _unlimited. What if we don't find anything on another island?"

"I doubt that there wouldn't be anything on another island..."

Louis cut in making Benny sigh in exasperation. This time Zoey interjected-

"I mean, there should be a radio or something that could help us contact others right? I mean a military base would be a _perfect _place to settle down in..."

The others couldn't help but agree that a fully protected place like a military base would be a nice home. After all, the only time they truly felt safe was in the safe houses, the one place that Infected couldn't get in. Bill finally spoke again-

"Seems like we want to stay then. But we have to do some things now, so listen up!"

The other four listened intently to Bill's plan.

"This time, we aren't gonna be up against Infected. We're facing _real _humans now, so we can't just go barging in and out of the place like maniacs. That means we need to have a strategy, a good one too."

"Well, what's the plan then? Old man."

Bill sighed as he ignored Francis' jab at his age-

"First of all, you guys know that Benny and I killed a tango each. That means they probably know that something happened to two of their own and will go out and search around for whatever happened to them. I don't know how they found us, but they were probably walking around the island and saw us by chance."

Bill swallowed before continuing-

"We need to see the layout of the base, need to know what those tangos do at what time and where. We should probably do a distant recon during the day and a closer one during the night. Not this night since we need to rest, we still haven't recovered much from our trip..."

Louis didn't know for sure if this was the best idea, he still thought that they should just avoid fighting the tangos completely. Benny and Zoey nodded in agreement with the plan. However, there was one problem-

"What about the boat?"

Francis piped up-

"I mean, if they're looking for us, what if they find our boat?"

Bill thought for a bit, wondering what they could do to hide or move the boat.

"Hmm...How about hiding it up some creek or bay? This island seems big enough for there to be one or two of them. It would be a problem if they found out that there were strangers on the island, better to hit them in surprise than to make them expect us."

Bill grunted a little as he rose up.

"I think that's it for now, we should move the boat first before something happens to it."

The rest rose up as well, Benny leaning on Zoey as he still felt a little woozy from the injury on his head. They walked out of the clearing and back into the dark jungle.

The plan was now in motion.

Author's Note: Hey guys! What did you think? Next chapter will definitely be a blast, just wait! :D


	12. Preparation

Pairings: Can you guys guess whose being paired? ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign).

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

HEY GUYS! How have ya'll doing? Thank you for the recent reviews, always good to know what people think. :D

Please keep reading and commenting!

Chapter 12

Preparation

Streams of sunlight shot through the jungle, lighting up the usually green scene with specks of light and darkness. It was surprising to Zoey how different the weather of the jungle was contrasted to the night. Gone was the cold wind that blew constantly through the leaves and shrubbery and was replaced by humidity that made walking irksome to the five survivors making their way back to the sandy beach. None of them said anything to each other as they concentrated their energies into studying their surroundings for any sudden intruders as well as trying to not succumb to the blazing heat and thick humidity that seemed to weigh them down.

Zoey was panting slightly as her clothes stuck to her body from all the sweat she was producing. She kept her arm on Benny's shoulder as he leaned on her, their body heat mingling. Benny was wincing in the heat, his head still hurting but it was mostly just a dull ache now. Louis was not faring any better, his white shirt literally sticking to his skin. It was a wonder how the analyst could not complain about the heat considering the damp spots of sweat completely soaking every inch of his clothes. Sweat was the least of Francis' worries, the biker was getting annoyed by the constant buzzing of insects and odd bird noises that seemed to come from every direction with no end. Francis couldn't keep calm knowing that the jungle actually cracked and popped as it absorbed heat. Bill didn't seem effected by any of this, probably owing to the fact that he went through it already in Vietnam.

They were going into the first necessary action which was moving the boat into a place where no one could find it. If anything happened, they would at least have an escape route, although there was no telling what would happen when they tried to invade a military base. However, the five continued onwards past the steaming jungle and finally reached the familiar sands of the littered beach. Zoey grunted as Benny's weight begun to wore her down, her energy about to run out as her aching legs were about to give out. Noticing, Benny shifted himself away from Zoey, nodding to her that he was fine to walk by himself. She was about to say something but decided that it would be best to conserve her energy for later use. It took a few minutes for them to finally reach the moored boat before Bill began-

"We need a good hiding spot, one where no one could really find unless they were _really _searching hard for it."

Zoey and Benny looked at each other, both of them exchanged blank looks. Louis pondered for a solution, his hand under his chin as he paced back and forth a few steps. Francis merely grunted as he sat down on the sand, not wanting to put any effort into thinking about where to dump a lousy uncomfortable boat. Bill thought hard as well, not really seeing where they would be able to hide a semi-large boat.

Would they hide it in the trees?

_Probably not. Too much of a hassle to move something that heavy. _

Bill eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he scanned their surroundings, looking to see what might give him a hint to solve their predicament. He suddenly spotted a small break into the jungle, something that eluded his sight before. Emboldened, the old veteran grabbed some binoculars from his pack that was left on the boat and saw their solution. The break turned out to be a small creek that went from the sea and into the island from their far right. Bill was surprised at how they didn't notice the creek before, perhaps it was just too small for someone to notice without actually trying to look for something like that.

"Ahah!" The veteran's sudden outburst startled everyone else as they all looked up at him. Explaining, Bill set out his idea of hiding the boat up the small creek which was so heavily set about with dense, concealing jungle growth that it formed a dark tunnel. They all agreed that this was the best idea considering that no one contemplate randomly searching its stream unless they knew it had some secret.

"But we should at least scout their base first, we needa know what tools we need to beat them." Bill said it in a rather casual voice, but everyone knew how serious the plan was. If they messed up, they would all be in danger considering that their enemy outnumbered them. All of them took the plan seriously, even Francis despite him being his usual uncaring, impulsive self. However, Bill did note that it was strange that the tangos didn't send anyone to find out what had happened to their two comrades. He kept guard while he directed everyone else to their tasks: Zoey and Benny scouting the military base from afar using binoculars, Louis gathering what they would need in their packs, Francis making sure that their weapons and supplies were all ready when the time came for the assault.

_Do they not care about those two? Are they really pirates or something? _Bill kept his doubts and worries to himself, keeping occupied with his plan.

After a few hours or so, Zoey and Benny came back with news of what they saw from the recon. The base was on flat land, so the survivors didn't really have to worry about hills or anything that would only get in the way of their shooting. Apparently the military had cleared an untold amount of trees in order to put the base in a very open space, probably around 30 meters or so in a wide circle. This meant that they would have to pick a spot carefully, since they didn't have much cover from trees or brushes. It was a rectangular compound of about one hundred by one fifty meters. Nothing much was around the area besides what looked like mounds of garbage. However, the base was exactly as they thought, fully protected with sniper turrets and steel walls, something that could be a problem should their plan to completely surprise their enemies failed. They had seen some men floundering around outside, their clothing similar or worse than the two dead tangos. It didn't seem that they had a set schedule, more like a vacation paradise where they didn't have a care for the world.

"I doubt that _all_ of them are just blockheads enjoying the sun, should do another recon."

Bill didn't seem convinced about the schedule, deciding that they needed a closer recon at night. However, when he said that he and Benny would go, Zoey instantly cut in-

"_NO! _I'm not leaving you guys alone again!"

"Zoey, I-" Bill tried to explain but Zoey was really getting heated by then.

"_BENNY IS STILL HURT! And what makes you think that it would be a good idea for you two to go out alone again?!" _

Bill couldn't calm Zoey down, the teenager really getting on Bill's nerves even though he knew that she only meant well. Helpless, Bill turned to look at Benny, the only one beside him since Francis and Louis were busy with their supplies. Sighing-

"Look Zoey. I feel fine, I may be a little light-headed but I should be ok for a close range recon."

He cut in before Zoey could retort, the latter opening her mouth furiously-

"And besides, you aren't the best when it comes to stealth. How many sticks did you step in on this island?"

Benny knew that he was going too far with his comments, but he didn't know how he would be able to stop Zoey from following them since there was too much danger in having three people scout the base. The more people there, the higher the chance that they would get detected, should any one of them be seen. What he didn't expect was the furious slap that came from the brunette. Her hand print was burned onto his face as he gave a small yelp of pain and shock. Francis and Louis only gaped at what happened, but quickly returned to their priority. Zoey turned and stomped away from Bill and Benny and sat below the boat with her back turned away from them and faced the calm sea. Bill didn't know what to say, but he knew that it would probably be best to just leave Zoey alone.

_I guess I deserved that one, but I had no choice there... _Benny rubbed the spot on his face. He figured she was stressed out and had simply lashed out at the nearest available target. Him.

"You ready?"

Benny nodded at the veteran, deciding that he would apologize to Zoey later for acting like an asshole to her. Bill looked concerned about the two of them, but went on ahead with Benny following him.

Zoey turned and glared at the two retreating backs as they went back into the darkening jungle. She cursed at herself for being so immature, regretting that she had actually slapped the crap out of Benny. She knew that it was only logical for Bill and Benny to go rather than her, but she still didn't want them to be alone again, not after the incident with that one tango. Although, the two were hardened survivors, it didn't mean that they would get out of any situation unscathed. She glanced at Louis and Francis, the duo on watch in the gathering darkness while she sat there looking at them. She felt her rage slowly ebb away in spite of herself as she sat there holding her knees tightly to her chest.

_What now? _There wasn't anything more to do now that the distant recon was finished and everyone else was pretty much doing all that was needed to prepare for the invasion. Zoey sighed to herself while she grabbed a pebble and threw it at the sea. The small rock made _plop _sounds as it skipped on the clear water surface. It skipped...two...four...five times before it fell into unknown depths. Frowning, Zoey remembered the times she went camping with her dad, the one who had taught her how to skip rocks. _Not bad kiddo, _was what he would always say when she managed to skip the pebble at least two times. Zoey shook herself back to the present, not wanting to remember his dying face as she stared off into the distance. The sun was becoming a golden yellow as it slowly sank away from her sight.

Deep into the quickly darkening jungle, Bill and Benny silently followed the trail, both sets of eyes trained on their surroundings. They were reaching the same spot that Bill had fought off the tango. Bill still had his suspicions about the tangos still not sending anyone to search for their missing comrades. It was strange to think that they wouldn't notice that two of their own was suddenly gone, but it was proven to be true from the silence and emptiness around them. Glancing at Benny, Bill noted that the teenager's face was set in rigid lines, probably deep in thought. The veteran could only give a small sigh as he remembered the way they had parted from Zoey, the brunette putting all her strength in her slap. Knowing Zoey for so long, Bill knew that she had a normally restrained personality. However, when she was under stress, she either fell back into a passive shell...or blew her top off completely. No question, she had been deeply upset and Benny's abrasive comments had set her off. Benny didn't know about her hair trigger psychology and caught it in full blast.

Bill decided that he would talk to both of them later, if they survived their invasion. The trail didn't seem to end as it wove past the sea of greenery around them. However, signs of human activity slowly began to appear as they continued to follow the trail. Empty beer cans and liquor bottles littered the ground not only on the trail but everywhere around it as well. Ragged pieces of cloth was strewn over brushes and trees as well, a rather powerful pungent smell making Bill's nose wrinkle in disgust.

Seeing the gradual change in their surroundings, Bill motioned Benny to get off the trail, the latter nodding in agreement. By now, the jungle was pretty dark as the sun was almost finished setting down. Benny made care not to make any sudden movements or sounds that would probably alert anyone around them. Bill had made sure to cover their tracks from the beginning just to make sure no one would notice that there were two random sets of feet walking to the base. Sounds were beginning to appear as they trudged closer and closer to the base. There weren't many concealed spots that were close to the base, but Bill managed to find a good concealed spot behind a rather large brush.

The sight that greeted them was something rather surprising, but not altogether unexpected. There was a water tower, a rather tall and intimidating structure that was at least 30 feet tall and an unknown width. Bill noted that someone had gone to the modest trouble of setting up low piles of sandbags in each corner of the structure's flat roof topped with crude shelters of palm fronds. _Sniper posts? _He thought to himself.

Strangely, the compound lacked any form of perimeter fence or ground level defense positions; not even a nominal stringing of barbed wire. Indeed its only concession was a roughly cleared strip of ground about twenty yards wide between the nearest building and the surrounding jungle. Bill supposed the military never imagined that they would have to defend this place. However, what caught their eyes was not the base itself, but the fact that there was a bonfire right smack next to it. The sparks of the raging flame flew wildly, spitting into the air as if it had a hatred for the night sky. The bonfire illuminated various men's shadows as they gathered around the deep red fire. Bill strained his ears as he tried to listen for anything the men might've been saying. At first the crackling and snapping of sticks and maybe coal from the bonfire was covering anything that the men were saying but their voices began to rise, a heated argument was beginning-

"_Don't you think we should at least look for those two idiots?!" _

This came from a rather round man, dressed in the same fashion as the two dead tangos.

"_Pfff. _Those two must be fucking each other or something."

Another voice raised itself against that question, coming from another man that was a lot more slimmer than the first one. However, this began a rather passionate argument between the men present. From what Benny could count, there was around seven men around the fire, another five unaccounted for. He was feeling a bit annoyed, having to listen to their pointless argument about searching for the two men or not, but he and Bill had to wait and see what would happen. After about another 10 minutes of the men bickering, Benny was about to nudge Bill to see what the veteran would say in this kind of situation, but the men suddenly quieted down. Feeling a bit of excitement that something would happen, Benny scanned around for whatever was coming. Walking down from the entrance of the base was another man being closely followed by two others. Bill shifted his position a bit as he trained both eyes on the new arrivals.

This man had an air of authority that seemed to command respect, something quite similar to Bill (although the others never really mentioned that to the veteran). Dark brown hair lined his head, shifting a little in the wind as he took his time walking down to the group of tangos. Judging from the lines and scars from his face, he seemed to be in his late 30's. He had a rather wiry and skinny build, but it didn't seem that he was an amateur when it came to combat considering the way he held himself in utter confidence and the pistols holstered on his legs. His "lackeys" looked like twins, both identical to each other in every angle and degree. They were exactly the same build as Francis, they were big and looked pretty stupid. However, they each had an assault rifle in their hands and from the way the held it, they knew how to use them. Benny bit his lip as he studied the boss tango and his minions, feeling a bit lost as to how they would be able to deal with them in an all out assault, but he stayed silent altogether. The tangos around the bonfire seemed to hold a certain amount of fear when the supposedly leader casually walked right smack into the middle of all of them, his lackeys close behind.

"Knock it off ya assholes and get ya fucking minds back to ya duties."

The voice issuing from the leader's mouth was barely louder than the crackling of the bonfire, but Bill could still make out the sly tone to it. None of the tangos seemed to want to answer him, none of them wanting to take the blame for making such a scene in front of the boss himself. Grinning-

"Arguing over those two? Don't worry their probably sleeping in the jungle. Wasn't it their turn to sweep the island anyways? Just give them a day."

Most of the tangos nodded, but some still looked doubtful about the two still being in the jungle. However, Bill was thinking furiously at the mention of the tangos actually sweeping the island. That meant that if those two weren't coming back in around a day or so, the tangos would send more men to search the island. If that was the case, Bill and his comrades would probably be found out unless they acted quickly. Straining to hear more, Bill leaned as far as he could on the brush but not enough to let the tangos see him.

"We eat in an hour and I want two sentries on duty all night...the usual...starting at nine. Marcus has the roster. _Fuck, _do I have to check up on every damn thing?"

With that note, the boss and his lackeys marched back into the base without so much of another glance behind them. Benny was a bit shocked to how lax they were about everything. After all, did they think they had it easy on this island? The boss tango's attitude toward discipline was absolutely carefree, even the tangos themselves didn't really carry guns on them which showed that they probably thought that they were so safe that nothing would happen to them. Benny had noticed that there were plenty of guns on the ground, but none of the tangos had guns on them. In other words, the main problem was the boss and his lackey's and the fact that they didn't know the building's floor plan or anything like that. However, the tangos began to disperse into the building, while a few were left to take care of the bonfire. Benny was snapped out of his thoughts by Bill who signaled that they were done with spying on them. The two of them slowly backed off and made their way back to the trail. They took care not to make any noise before reaching a careful distance away. After making sure that there were no tracks, Benny began-

"They kinda suck."

Bill understood what the teenager was trying to say, even though the description was a bit...lame.

"Yeah. Saddest bunch of bastards I ever saw. But we have to watch out for those three, and the other two that weren't there."

Benny nodded, the two not speaking a word until they finally hit the sandy beach once again. Looking at the boat, only a slim figure was sitting there waiting for them. Zoey waved at them, relieved that they were safe and sound. Benny felt a little apprehensive about approaching Zoey after the fact that they left on a rather bad note, but he couldn't help but be surprised when she flung herself on him-

"_Oh my god. _You two took so long, I was so worried."

Benny clumsily patted her shoulder as she hugged him, not sure of how to react. Bill only grinned and winked at Benny, waiting for them to break apart so he could tell Zoey what they found.

"I'm sorry for hitting you so hard..."

Zoey mumbled softly into Benny's neck before looking up at the amused twinkle in the latter's eyes. He was grinning as they slowly broke apart-

"So you worried for like an hour because of that? That's so lame Zoey."

"_HEY!" _

The two of them couldn't help but burst into laughing at that. Bill was becoming impatient, not wanting to wait for their mirth to subside. He made a rather loud noise from his throat, ending the laughing from the two teenagers a bit early as they looked back at the veteran.

"Ooops. Sorry about that Bill."

Bill gave a grunt in her direction before telling her what they had found out. Zoey's eyebrows were raised the whole time when the veteran described the tangos and their lack of security. She narrowed her eyes a bit at the mention of the boss tango and his lackeys. After Bill had finished, Zoey began-

"Ok, looks like we only have to worry about the boss and his minions?"

Bill shook his head-

"We have to be prepared for anything, just because they seem to suck at fighting doesn't mean that we should just prance in there, guns blazing. We have to worry about the other two men, where ever they are...and the big three of course."

Zoey and Benny nodded at the wisdom of his words. Bill and Benny made their way on the boat, Zoey helping Bill a little when he stumbled a bit trying to raise himself. They could hear loud snores inside, signaling that Francis and Louis had already fallen asleep.

_I'll tell them later then..._ Bill thought to himself before remembering-

"Oh. We're moving the boat first thing in the morning, we need to make sure that they won't see us if they decide to search the island earlier."

The two teenagers nodded in agreement. Bill was about to settle down on his bedding before Zoey gave him a hug as well.

"I'm glad you're okay, old man."

Bill returned the hug warmly, giving a chuckle at the attention from the brunette.

"Don't worry about me, you should worry about those three. Especially since they're all idiots."

Benny gave a glare in Bill's direction, the veteran smirking at him. Zoey laughed before releasing Bill from her clutches, leaving the old man to sleep. Sitting down next to Benny-

"I'll keep first watch then. I'll wake you up in a few hours."

Benny wanted to argue that he should keep first watch, but knew that Zoey wouldn't budge. After all, he still needed to recover from the head injury, although it would take more than a few hours of sleep to cure that. Benny gave a small smile at Zoey, gripping her shoulder lightly before laying down on the floor. Zoey reached over for the assault rifle next to Bill, making herself comfortable on the boat, looking around her surroundings for anything. She glanced up and noticed that it was a full moon tonight, the beautiful silver orb shining down on them. She couldn't remember the last time she had the time or the safety to watch the full moon, but smiled a little as she looked back at the jungle.

Whatever would happen, as long as they were all together, she knew that nothing could stand in their way.

Author's Note: Sorry guys! The preparation for actually assaulting the base took _WAY _longer then I thought it would. But don't worry, the next chapter should definitely be more 'actionable'. If that's a word. :D


	13. Tactical Assault

Pairings: Can you guys guess whose being paired? ;)

Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes _may _be present.

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign).

Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, _italicized _words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. _Italicized phrases _are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...

I hope this chapter will be a good one for ya'll. As always, thank you for reading and reviewing! Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, midterm weeks are the worst thing ever! (learned it the hard way :c).

No worries let us get to it shall we?

Chapter 13

Tactical Assault

Francis ran as fast as he could to keep up with the person in front of him, his hands tightly gripping his shotgun. Sweat poured down his head, dripping down into his shirt and vest as he followed. He glanced around him taking in the blood soaked ground from the bodies around them. Gunshots rang out around them as they rushed towards the fiery tower in front of them. He couldn't help but grin in savage pleasure. Nothing gave him more exhilaration than gunfights. Piercing screams echoed from the collapsing structure as its residents were either being crushed, burned or forced to run out into gunfire. He was starting to fall behind Benny who was in front of him, his breaths slowly turned ragged as he increased his speed.

"_COME ON!" _The roar from the old veteran was heard close behind them as the bullets mercilessly cut down two figures running out from the flaming building just dozens of feet away from them. They continued to rush to the structure in front of them ignoring the hail of bullets raining around them. Once they made it to the ruined entrance, they paused for a moment listening hard for the off chance that another person would run into them. Hearing nothing, they went through the entrance into the rather ominous interior of the building. They met a sudden blaze of light from hundreds of light bulbs stuck on the side walls and ceilings. It was such a drastic change in lighting that the two were blinded momentarily before their eyes adjusted. Metal stairways lined the floor they were on, many leading upwards to higher floors while some lead somewhere deeper down, perhaps into the underground. Speechless the biker gripped his shotgun even more tightly while trying to remember where they were suppose to go.

"You remember the plan right? It's the right staircase leading down..."

Francis looked up to the grim face of the teenager, the latter beckoning him to hurry up while standing on the right staircase. The biker merely nodded in acknowledgement before he followed Benny down the unraveling staircase. Their feet made thump, thump sounds as they traveled deeper down into the compound. Francis couldn't help but wonder how long it took to make this base considering that they were going down who-knows-how-many flights of stairs. He had never been this deep underground before, let alone being in a military base. Perhaps this one was unique, but the walls around them were made of reinforced steel and didn't seem to end as they continued down. The gray walls gave off a cold feeling, almost as if it didn't want them there, twinkling malevolently. _Hmph. I hate walls. _The biker found another thing he hated, although no one really cared about that, now did they?

They suddenly collided when Benny stopped halfway down a staircase, Francis almost losing his balance. "_Shi-" _He began before seeing the hand raised by Benny, the teenager eyes concentrated down below them. The biker looked down as well, his stomach turning as he saw exactly what had made Benny stop.

"_No way."_

_Hours Before_

"Hey wake up."

Benny woke up with a sudden start, blinking rapidly as he felt his eyes stung from the sudden blaze of sunlight the moment he opened his eyes. Shaking himself awake, he looked up at Louis' grinning face, the latter turning and joining the rest of the group. _Ugh, my head. _His head felt heavy, almost as if it was weighed down by a ton of lead. Scratching his cheek, he examined his surroundings, ignoring the buzzing activity around him as the others were up and about their business. Zoey hadn't woken him to take a night watch. He guessed she was worried about his head injury and let him catch a break. Benny silently thanked her for the extra zees. He peered around, taking in the soft warmth of the sun as it managed to shine through thick clouds. The sky was a dark gray, an ominous sign considering that this was the day that they would begin their assault.

A sudden douse of seawater hit Benny's pants. Startled, Benny realized that the boat was making its way across the hidden creek. Interested, he watched as the creek ended up deeper and deeper into the jungle. The creek's water was unsurprisingly as green as the rest of the jungle was, yet it was filled with untold amounts of insect, plants, and micro-organisms. Louis steered slowly, making sure that the boat wouldn't end up in the weeds somewhere if they crashed into a random log. Francis was mumbling to himself as he rummaged around the boat's supplies, making last minute corrections and additions to their packs before they ventured off into the jungle. Bill and Zoey huddled, heads together, engaged in an intense quiet discussion. Their conversation was most likely a part of the plan that needed to be thought out better. Deciding that he might as well just join their conversation, Benny got to his feet, stumbling a little from the sudden shift from sitting to standing.

"Hey, what's going on?"

The other two paused in their conversation as they looked up at Benny. Motioning him to sit down, Bill began to fill him into the details-

"Here's the thing. Even though we're going to go in at night, we still need something to make a huge diversion that would distract the tangos completely to avoid as much problems as possible. Wouldn't want us to only take down six of them and have to go up against another set."

Zoey merely pursed her lips as she thought about the problem again. Benny was a little puzzled as well, wondering how they would manage to make a diversion on such a grand scale. It was definitely something to consider as there was no doubt that they couldn't have Francis jumping in like a maniac, the biker always resorting to that kind of strategy when it boiled down to it. Bill sighed as his mind came up blank, looking expectantly at the two teenagers, hoping that their fresh young minds might have some innovative idea or inspiration. Zoey shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat, noticing that Bill was depending on them for an answer. Usually Bill would know what to do, what their next move or plan was, but it wasn't the case this time. Somehow, she felt that she was disappointing the old man because of not her being able to figure out a solution for their situation.

Feeling a bit of shame, she turned around and looked at Benny, wondering if he managed to think of something. By the way his eyebrows were furrowed, it was clear to see that he was thinking hard as well, but it didn't seem that he found a solution either. Looking close at his face, she could see the way the light seemed to shine off the odd parts of his face. But she found that her eyes went back to trace the side of his head, toward the injury the tango had smashed in, taking note that it was still matted with blood...

_Tango?...That was it!_

It was as if an electrical surge went right through Zoey as she discovered an amazing, if not brilliant, idea. Exclaiming, she jumped to her feet, the other four on the boat looking up at her in surprise, or irritation in Francis' case. Bill raised an eyebrow at the brunette, not understanding what could make her jump like a little six year old. However-

"_I GOT IT! _This will knock the pants off those dumb tangos!" Zoey enthusiastically said to Bill and Benny as she jumped a little in victory.

Bill merely grumbled, having to deal with an overexcited teenager was definitely not on the top of his list. Benny could only laugh at the sight of Zoey jumping around like she had received a gold Olympic medal or something, he added in-

"Well, not that those tangos _wear_ pants," Seeing Zoey giving him a rather steely glance at his joke, he hastily added in, "But let's hear what you have." Benny gave a rather awkward chuckle as Zoey rolled her eyes and told them her idea-

"Remember the two tangos that Bill and Benny took down? Well...those tangos seem to be complete cowards...what if we took one of the dead tangos and made them look like an Infected?...There's no way they _wouldn't _be distracted by some zombie-looking body that's right in front of them." Zoey wasn't sure if her plan was the best one out there, but she didn't really see anything that would work besides that.

"That's brilliant!" The veteran's sudden praise made Zoey flush with pleasure as she sat back down with Bill and Benny.

"Yeah. Leave the cutting to me. Nothing like mutilating bodies? Eh?" Francis had a rather wicked grin, the thought of being able to making a scarecrow out of a dead human body to scare live ones. Louis gave the biker a revolted face, deciding not to comment on how Francis seemed to take pleasure in finding a dead corpse and cutting it up in odd angles and trying to make it look like an Infected, focusing on moving the boat safely on the small creek.

"Alright, now that's taken care of. We should land this boat and find our way back to the body in the jungle. We already taken care of the first body...I doubt we would find pieces of him in the sea. I think we're deep enough in the creek for no one to find it in."

Bill nodded at Louis, the latter carefully moving the boat towards a side of the creek. The boat creaked in protest as it hit the muddy land of the jungle. Looking up, Bill could see the sun slowly sinking, but not setting yet, which meant that they still had a while before night hit. Deciding that they should hurry-

"We need to go back to the trail and find the body first. You ready with those supplies, Francis?"

Bill turned to look at the biker, Francis presenting them with their packs all ready with ammo, food, etc. The veteran gave a quick glance inside, taking note that there was also one grenade inside his pack, something he had never expected to see in his life again.

"Nice. Good thing you know how to pack for raids, might've been a hassle if I had to do it." Bill gave a pat on the biker's shoulder as he said that.

"Hmph. More like you guys can't do _shit_ when I'm not here!" Francis puffed out his chest in pride as he strapped on his pack, the contents bouncing around inside as he made his way out of the boat.

Shaking his head, Louis grabbed his own pack and followed Francis out onto the jungle ground. _No point feeding his already inflated ego..._Louis couldn't help but roll his eyes as he looked back at the other three getting ready to follow them. Zoey nimbly jumped down from the boat, grunting a little as the pack weighed her down. Bill grumbled as he had to slowly make his way down, his joints hurting a little from the effort. Benny jumped down as well, his feet making squishing sounds as he landed on the soft muddy ground.

With Bill's signal, the group made their way into the slowly darkening jungle. As they entered, the usual sounds greeted them, the swishing of leaves and branches, insects buzzing, birds shrilly singing their songs, etc. To Benny the sound was more of an annoyance than anything considering that it would be easy to mask ones sound in the crowd of sounds already present in the jungle. Even though they were all on the look-out for the tangos, Benny just couldn't get rid of the feeling that they were being watched even though they were armed and ready for action. _Maybe this is what it's like to be paranoid..._Benny looked at the back of Bill, the veteran glancing around the trees and brushes as they continued their way into the jungle. Benny was in the flank with Zoey while Louis, Bill and Francis were in the front. The group was silent as each of them took careful note of their surroundings, not daring to make any conversation unless it was necessary. The sun was slowly sinking casting its light rays into the jungle making everything look brighter and darker then what it really was. Benny stole a glance upwards, the jungle ceiling of thick greenery having a small enough opening for him to see the darkening sky. Benny couldn't tell if they were going in the right direction, but it seemed that Bill seemed to know where they were going, so he made no comment as he followed the group. He and Zoey made special care to get rid of the group's tracks as they made their way towards the trail, not taking any chance of detection.

Eventually, after quite a few minutes, they hit the rocky trail again. Bill raised a hand, the rest of them stopping as they waited for the old veteran to signal that the trail was clear. For a tense moment, Zoey gripped her pistols tightly in her hand, only relaxing when Bill nodded that it was clear. They quickly made their way onto the trail, only to quickly make their way back into the jungle on the other side. It felt good to be back in the open sunlit area where there wasn't only bugs and trees, but Benny couldn't complain as they were engulfed by the insanely humid and hot jungle once more. Bill could only frown as he looked back at his companions, noticing that their states were slowly deteriorating as they continued on in through the blazing heat. They had to rest soon before they would collapse, Bill was used to the jungle, but not them. They continued their way into the jungle, finding the familiar clearing after a while. By this time, all of them besides Bill were panting, the heat definitely getting the better of them by this time. Francis made his way to the distant brush that hid the body of the dead tango, Bill followed him to make sure nothing happened while the biker did his work on the body. Louis, Benny, and Zoey sat contently, leaning on the trees as they rested.

The jungle was getting dark again, it was almost time for the action to begin. As they waited for Francis, the rest of them felt the pre-fighting nerves getting to them. Benny felt a little apprehensive about suddenly going in to kill people, but he knew that those tangos probably wouldn't show him any mercy if they were in his shoes. The way the dead tango treated him and Bill proved that beyond any doubt. He gripped his hunting rifle tightly, feeling a little more determined about going through with the plan. But even Benny couldn't stop sweating as the time to execute the plan came sooner and sooner. Louis felt butterflies hit him in the stomach as he looked into the jungle, in the direction of where the tango camp was. It wasn't that he was scared of going in and killing those bastards, it was the feeling of guilt that would come to him after it. He didn't tell anyone that he would reflect on their trip when he was alone. He couldn't help but feel that he was doing something wrong with killing Infected. After all, they used to be living humans that breathed the same air he did right now. He knew that they had no choice but to shoot every Infected that came at them, but...he still felt guilty. And now they were getting ready to shoot real live humans...Louis could only see how it all went down, deciding that he would find a way to deal with his thoughts if they made it through the plan.

On the other hand, Zoey was reciting the plan in her head, making sure that she remembered every detail in case anything went wrong. The first part was the distraction, which was now the cut up body of the dead tango made to look like one of the Infected. No doubt that the tangos would be completely distracted by seeing the body on the ground, thinking that there were now Infected on the island. The second part was to come in and surprise the hell out of the tangos with guns blazing. Of course, this was their biggest advantage from what Bill told them because they were pretty much extremely light infantry (whatever the hell that meant). Once they ambushed the tangos, they would go for the objectives which would be to get into the building and assume control.

The best scenario would be if they had lured most, if not all, the tangos outside and gotten rid of them with guns and grenades so they would have the least amount of threat when going inside. Bill also did mention that they would have to think on their own in case something goes down with the plan. However, Zoey didn't think that their plan would fail if they each did everything to the best of their ability. Her and Benny on sniping out the tangos, Bill and Louis forming the apex of the attack and Francis being himself and the diversion. No doubt that the biker would go crazy and run around shooting with his shotgun since there was no way Bill or anyone else could stop the biker from running off on impulse.

However, Zoey didn't see how they would be able to know their way inside the base with no blueprints or anything that would be able to guide them, but Bill judged that the main headquarters would probably be on the right side of the entrance. "That base seems pretty old from the way walls are starting to color and decay. Probably been there for years without anyone knowing about it..." Bill had answered when Zoey mentioned the lack of detail of the inside of the base. She assumed that it was his military past or something where he was stationed inside one of these military bases just like this one. At that point, if the boss tango wasn't dead, he would probably be the last one standing in his hoard of treasure whatever it might be. The plan pretty much ended in detail once they managed to get inside, Bill not being able to see what they could do without the exact layout of the base besides assumptions.

Sudden footsteps snapped all of them from their thoughts, each of them instinctively raising their guns to the direction of the sound, only to stop when they saw that it was Bill. The old veteran barely glanced at the weapons that were pointed at his head for a moment, merely grunting as he began-

"The body's all done. Gotta get going, c'mon."

Each of them picked themselves up and followed Bill to see Francis' handiwork, bracing to see what gruesome horror he crafted. As the neared the body, there was the usual unbearable smell of rotting dead that hit their noses like a gun blast. As they all looked at the body with apprehensive looks, Francis stood next to it with a big grin, proud of his creation. This time, the body was wearing scraps of clothing like it had wandered around aimlessly while the wind tore at it. There were some cuts and scratches all over the place, Francis pretty much making it look like the dead tango had fought with someone before being sliced in the throat. The skin was already pale which made his work a lot easier because there wasn't really any way for the biker to replicate the exact skin tone of normally Infected. Looking at it, Benny couldn't find anything that would mistake the body from another Infected although he did still feel a twinge of anger towards the dead tango no doubt because he was knocked out by him. Zoey and Louis were both wrinkling their nose in disgust at the rotting smell, but each of them agreed that it passed the test.

"Alright, gotta get going." Bill glanced at the quickly darkening jungle. _Almost time. _

"But whose going to drag the body?" Zoey questioned, looking at the dead body with disgust and something remarkably like hatred.

"Francis and Louis. Who else?" Bill pointed his thumb in the two men's directions.

"_What?! I did all that work and you want me to drag the dumb thing there?!" _The biker's chest was puffed out in indignation as he glared at Bill.

"Let's just get this over with..." Louis didn't want to hear anything more from Francis, it just wasn't the time to argue with a dumbass when they were just about to fight for their lives.

Twirling around, Francis-

"You little fucking bitch. All you ever do is follow Bill's orders like some dumb do-"

"_Shut the fuck up already_ _and just_ _GO!" _Pissed off at the biker for wasting time, Benny grabbed the dead body's arms and pulled. Louis was surprised at the sudden remark from Benny, but helped him grab another side of the body.

"Happy? Don't need to have your voice attract everyone on this island." Benny's steely glare at Francis was not unlike Bill's at times.

The biker looked furious but aimed his anger at a nearby tree, his punch leaving a deep imprint on it. Bill sighed and lead the way, not wanting to deal with their argument, not when they had something to do already. Zoey shook her head and followed the rest of them, making sure that the body didn't leave drag marks as they continued deeper into the forest.

As usual the darkening forest seemed have some eerie substance to it, almost as if there was something just waiting there for them, but all of them shook off their uncomforted feelings as they reached the same spot that Bill and Benny hid to watch what the military base looked like up-close. The hiding spot didn't look like it would hide all five of them plus dead body, but they managed to do it through squeezing tightly together. Of course, this didn't help considering that Francis and Benny were giving each other looks of death. Bill looked out from the brush carefully, but saw that nothing was happening. The bonfire from last time had burned out to a few cinders, the tangos mustn't have cared too much of having the fire during the night if they were willing to let it die. It didn't seem that there was any activity going on besides the night patrol that consisted of only two tangos that were both sleeping on a log right next to the bonfire. Bill couldn't believe just how lax their security was, to have patrols falling asleep right on the door. He turned around and nodded at the other four, each of them nodding back as they prepared for their role in the plan.

Francis heaved the body out of the brush and threw it as far as he could, the body landing a few feet away from them as it rolled onto its back. The ruffling sound from the brushes seemed to have woken up the guards as they groggily got to their feet. They both looked around and stopped dead at the look of the body close to them. It was almost as if they jumped out of their skins as they screamed like little girls at the sight of the dead tango.

"W-what?! Is that Fred?!"

"_Shit! Shit! He looks like one of those zombies!" _

It was amazing how clueless they were about the body. It was one thing to have an Infected body would suddenly appear in front of them, but for them to have actually fallen for it? Amazing really. However, the two guard's screams attracted several other tangos from the base as they ran out to see what the commotion was. Most of the tangos didn't carry guns on them, probably because they were rushed out of their beds of something like that. Only the guards had pistols and semi-auto guns, but the guns were on the floor, long forgotten about.

"_Damn, he's infected!"_

_"Who's infected here?!"_

_"Not me!"_

_"But you're his buddy!"_

Their arguments and screams at each other sounded like children bickering over toys, which was enough to annoy the crap out of everyone in the group. Bill saw the diversion had caught alight; the enemy sentries were arguing and distracted like a pair of zoned out stoners fighting over the last doobie. He looked back at his ragtag group, each having a look of determination on their face-ready for action. Smiling, Bill nodded.

It began.

-_bang- -bang-_

The tangos all wheeled around at the sound of rifles ringing out from the jungle in front of them, but noticed too late that two of their members had already fallen down with blood seeping down their shocked faces from bullet holes. Disorganized, they tried to reach for the guns on the ground, but noticed too late that there was already a stun grenade flying towards them. Strangled screams rang out from the field as the tangos tried to run from the expected explosion from the grenade. With an almighty flash of light, the metal canister blew up, the force of the air pushing back both parties, but a blinding light hit the tangos straight on while the other group looked away and continued their assault. Bill and Louis fired away at the tangled confusion of the tangos, marking down one or two with a furious rain of bullets aimed in their direction. Bill only squinted in concentration at the scene as he threw his own grenade in the general direction of the military base. The grenade seemed to slow down in time as it glided towards the thick wall of concrete, but only glanced at the wall before exploding, making a deep dent on it. Turning around, Bill quickly focused at the figures approaching out from the light in the entrance of the base, wanting to surprise the onlookers with bullets in their faces.

Louis was snarling in annoyance at the way the tangos were running around in zigzags, making it harder to aim at them. Every time he thought that he had hit a tango, the tango would just keep running, the bullets making marks on the ground as it missed its intended target. Frustrated, Louis decided to aim at the general area where the tangos were all running to which was the entrance to the base. Zoey and Benny were carefully lining up their targets as they waited for the perfect shot, each taking down a tango with each shot they made. But it took too long considering how fast the tangos were under the fear of death, making it far harder for the two to aim when their target was running around for their life. Hissing in annoyance, Benny almost pulled the trigger on a tango, but stopped when he suddenly turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

However, the tide of the battle was completely in their favor, the plan working perfectly as the tangos fell down from the onslaught of bullets, but they would have to rush the base soon before some of tangos managed to regroup and start retaliating on their own. Noticing this, Benny decided that it would be best to go in now considering that the fight was still completely one-sided in their favor. Moving quickly from his position, Benny ran towards Bill, the latter knowing what he wanted to do, but was shaking his head in disagreement. _It's not a good idea to go in alone. _Bill bit his lip as he tried to shoot and think of a better way for them to get in. The old veteran didn't really see any alternative, but decided that it was best for some of them to go in while the rest of them diverted the tango's attention for as long as they could. Sighing, Bill gave him a nod, Benny briefly nodding back before racing past the rest of them towards the now burning base. Francis followed suit, deciding that it would be more exhilarating to follow the teenager into the base where there was more close-combat. Besides, he preferred going close with his shotgun than having to try to shoot targets far away with it. While he followed Benny, the biker decided to leave their argument for later, not wanting to have to deal with it right now. So they went past the bloodied ground, past the lifeless bodies all over the place, past the burning side of the base, past the right staircase, and ended up stuck on the staircase just a few before reaching the very bottom of the military base.

No words could describe what they both were seeing.

None at all...

Author's Note: So tell me, what did you guys think? Reviews + comments!


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